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Columbia  (inttiers^ttp 
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THE   LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 
Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


int^eCttpofiafttigark 
iWcbical  Hibrarp 


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Sl)e 


dCarlij  ^istorg  of  Jfletricine 


in 


jji|)ilatrelpi)ia. 


BY 

GEORGE  W.  NORMS,  M.D., 

AUTHOR  OF   "CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  PRACTICAL  SURGERY." 

LATE    SUEGEON    TO    THE  PENNSYLVANIA    HOSPITAL  ;    PEOFESSOE  OF   CLINICAL  SUEGEET    IN    THE 

UNIVEESITT   OF   PENNSYLVANIA  ;     TRUSTEE    OP    THE   UNIVERSITY    OF   PENNSYLVANIA  ; 

VICE-PEESIDENT    OP    THE    COLLEGE    OF    PHYSICIANS    OF    PHILADELPHIA  ; 

PRESIDENT    OP    THE    HISTOEICAL    SOCIETY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA  ; 

MEMBER  OF  THE  SOCIETE  MEDICALS  D' OBSERVATION,  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 

1886. 


"Quod  praecipuum  munus  Annalium  reor,  ne  virtutes  sileantui',  utque  pravis 
dictis  factisque,  ex  posteritate  et  infamia  metus  sit." 

Tacitus— Annalium,  Liber  III.  Caput  lxv. 

"  Traditional  accounts  of  departed  worth,  if  not  combined  with  some  perma- 
nent memorial,  are  commonly  short-lived  and  uncertain." 

Bacon. 

"  For  nothing  else  is  Histor}^ 
but  pickle  of  antiquity, 
where  things  are  kept  in  memory, 
from  stincking." 

The  Woodstock  Scuffle. 


Inspicere,  tanquam  in  speculum,  in  vitas  omnium 
Jubeo  ;  atque  ex  aliis  sumere  exemplum  sibi. 

Terentius— Adelphi,  Act.  III.  Sc.  3. 


(vi) 


"Homines  enim  ad  deos  nulla  re  propius  accedunt  quani  salutem  homi- 

nibus  dando." 

Cicero — Oratio  pro  Q.  Ligario,  Caput  xir. 


■  There  Physic  tills  the  space,  and  far  around, 
Pile  above  pile,  her  learned  works  abound : 
Glorious  their  aim — to  ease  the  labouring  heart ; 
To  war  with  death,  and  stop  the  flying  dart ; 
To  trace  the  source  whence  the  fierce  contest  grew, 
And  life's  short  lease  on  easier  terms  renew : 
To  calm  the  j)hrensy  of  the  burning  brain  ; 
To  heal  the  tortures  of  imploring  pain  ; 
Or,  when  more  powerful  ills  all  efforts  brave, 
To  ease  the  victim  no  device  can  save. 
And  smooth  the  stormy  passage  to  the  grave." 

Ck ABBE— The  Librarv. 


(Tii) 


ERRATUM. 

On  p.  21,  3d  Hue  from  bottom,  for  "grandson"  rmd  "great-grandson." 


(x-iii) 


€onttnts. 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


Jan  Peterson 
Peter  Tyneman    . 
John  Goodson 
Thomas  Lloyd 
Thomas  Wynne   . 
Griffith  Owen 
Edward  Jones 
Thomas  Graeme    . 
John  Kearsley 
John  Kearsley,  Jr. 
Patrick  Baird 
Lloyd  Zaehary     , 
William  Shippen 
Thomas  Cadwalader 
Thomas  Bond 
Phineas  Bond 
Cadwalader  Evans 
John  Redman 
Adam  Thompson 
William  Shippen,  Jr. 


9 
10 
10 
10 
11 
11 
12 
14 
15 
It 
19 
20 
21 
21 
25 
29 
29 
30 
35 
86 


(ix) 


iHtonitnin. 


John  Morgan 
Abraham  C  ho  vet 
John  Jones 
James  Logan 
John  Bartram 


EPIDEMICS  AND  SANITARY  REGULATIONS. 

Quarantine  Regulations .         . 

Inoculation  .         .         .         .         ■         •         • 

Dr.  Adam  Thompson's  Tract 

Dr.  Macleane  on  the  Expediency  of  Inoculation 

Dr.  "William  Heberden's  Inoculation  and  Instructions  for  the  Same 

Dr.  Redman — Defence  of  Same 

Dr.  Barnet  opens  a  Hospital  for  Inoculation         .... 
Dr.  Glentworth  opens  a  Hospital  for  Inoculation 

MEDICAL  SOCIETIES. 


The  Philadelphia  Medical  Society 

American  Society  for  Promoting  Useful  Knowledge 

Some  of  the  Early  Medical  Essays 

College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia 


PRIVATE  AND  SUMMER  COURSE  OF  LECTURES. 

Dr.  John  Foulke 

Dr.  J.  H.  Gibbons 

Drs.  Church,  James,  Price,  and  Dewees 


MEDICAL  PUBLICATIONS— LIBRARIES. 
Loganian  Library 


PAGE 

46 
91 
91 
99 
99 


101 
104 
106 

lot 

112 
113 
113 
114 


115 
115 
116 

in 


121 
122 
122 


123 


(X) 


FOUNDATION  OF  HOSPITALS. 

PACK 

Pennsylvania  Hospital 125 

Medical  Library  of  Pennsylvania  Hospital 128 

CLINICAL  LECTURES. 

Dr.  Bond's  Introductory       .        .         .         .         .         .        .        .        ,  129 

FOUNDATION  OF  MEDICAL  SCHOOLS. 

Morgan's  Project  for  a  Medical  Department  of  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia             149 

Morgan's  Appointment  as  Professor 152 

Appointment  of  Dr.  W.  Shippen,  Jr.,  Professor 156 

Advertisement  announcing  the  First  Course 15 Y 

Morgan  Founder  of  the  First  Medical  School  in  America     .        .         .163 

Bachelor's  Degree  in  Physic 165 

Decree  of  Doctor  of  Physic 166 

Fees  to  Professors 167 

Requirements  for  Graduation       .         . 1*70 

Appointment  of  Dr.  Kuhn lYO 

Appointment  of  Dr.  Bond  to  Chair  of  Clinical  Medicine      .         .         .  ill 

The  First  Commencement  where  Medical  Degrees  were  Bestowed       ,  172 

Dr.  Rush  Appointed  to  Chair  of  Chemistry 1Y5 

Confiscation  of  the  Property  of  the  CoUege 177 

University  of  Pennsylvania 177 

Fusion  of  the  College  and  the  University 178 

Appointment  of  Dr.  Physick 179 

Appointment  of  Dr.  James 180 

(xi) 


PAGE 

185 


195 


205 


APPENDIX  I. 

Organization  of  the  Medical  Department  of  General  Hospitals    . 

APPENDIX  II. 
Scant  Supplies  and  Suffering  of  the  Revolutionary  Army   . 

APPENDIX  III. 

Dr.  Morgan's  Card  Inviting  Investigation  of  his  Conduct  . 

APPENDIX  lY. 

Medicine  in  the  Sister  Colonies— Thomas  Thatcher — Zabdiel  Boyls- 

ton Dr.  Douglass — Thomas  Harward — Nathaniel  Williams  — 

Benjamin    Gale — William  Hunter — Cadwallader    Golden — John 

Bard Jabob  Ogden — Samuel  Bard — Peter  Middleton — Richard 

Bayley John  Jones — Charles  McKnight — Dr.  Hamilton— Adam 

Thomson — John  Mitchell — John  Clayton — John  Lining — Lionel 
Chalmers —  Alexander  Garden      .         .         .         .         .         .         .     208 

APPENDIX  Y. 

Some  Philadelphia  Physicians  of  Later  Date — Adam  Kuhn— William 

Currie — Philip  Syng  Physick 224 


(xii) 


e  Carlg  J^istorg  of  MtVtcint  in  f\ihM^\m. 


9k 

K^  looking  back  into  the  records  of  the  first  settlements 


^ 


upon  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  but  few  allusions  are 
found  either  to  sickness  or  physicians.  The  earhest  notice  of 
anything  relating  to  medicine  which  I  have  met  with  is  in 
1638,  in  which  year  it  is  recorded  that  3i^ti  ^tttVUOtl  from 
Alfendolft,  was  employed  as  "barber"  (as  surgeons  were  then 
denominated),  in  the  settlement  of  the  Swedes,  at  ten  guilders 
per  month.*  In  the  years  1642,  1657,  and  1658,  Alricks,  the 
Director  of  the  Colony  at  ^ew  Amstel,t  notices  in  his  cor- 
respondence, the  prevalence  of  "great  sickness  and  mortality," 
and  under  the  last-mentioned  date  adds,  "  Our  barber  surgeon 
died,  and  another  well  acquainted  with  his  profession  is  very 
sick."  J  Afterwards,  in  1660,  it  is  represented  to  the  Governor 
that  the  company  "are  much  in  want  of  a  surgeon,"  and  one 

*  Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  by  Samuel  Hazard,  Pliila.,  1850,  p.  49. 
t  Now  I^'ewcastle. 

t  Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  by  Samuel  Hazard,  Phila.,  1850,  p.  247. 
2  (9) 


S^e  Claris  %hiot^  of  iSeMnne  in  jp^il»bdp%m. 

]|(ttir  ^]$VitttXUtl  offers  himself  for  the  post.  Besides  these 
passing  notices,  no  mention  is  made  of  medicine  or  its  votaries. 

Bringing  with  them  few  or  none  who  needed  a  physician's 
care,  these  hardy  settlers,  in  case  of  pressing  necessity,  some- 
times looked  for  relief  to  the  divine,  who,  in  those  days,  not 
unfrequently  possessed  a  smattering  of  our  art,  or  to  the  high 
civil  authorities,  who  also  were  often  dabblers  in  physic ;  but  as 
a  general  rule,  nature  was  their  nurse,  and  temperance  their 
only  physician. 

Among  the  English  colonists  who  immediately  preceded  the 
arrival  of  Penn,  came  3^0)|tl  €^00^!$Ott,  "Chirurgeon  to  the 
Society  of  Free  Traders."  But  of  him  I  can  find  no  record, 
except  his  removal  to  Philadelphia  after  a  short  residence  at 
Upland.  He  came  from  London,  was  a  man  of  merit,  and 
was  probably  the  first  practising  physician  in  Pemisylvania. 

With  William  Pemi,  himself,  in  1682,  there  arrived  three 
well  educated  members  of  the  profession,  viz.,  Thomas  Lloyd, 
Thomas  Wynne,  and  Griffith  Owen. 

W^f^OtVL^ti  ILlO^Xff  who  had  been  educated  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  and  had  made  considerable  progress  in  the 
study  of  literature  and  science,  was  a  Doctor  of  Physic.  He, 
however,  never  practised  medicine  after  his  arrival  in  this 

(10) 


ffifte  €arlg  IJistorg  of  Mtbicxm  in  p^ilatrHpbm. 

country,  but  took  an  active  part  in  State  afiairs,  and  was  made 
first  Deputy  Governor  of  Pennsylvania. 

^tlOtlf^fil  ^W^titltf  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  practitioner 
in  London,  also  entered  mto  pubUc  life,  and  was  elected 
Speaker  of  the  first  Provincial  Assembly.  He  is  spoken  of 
by  Proud  as  a  "  person  of  note  and  character."  He  died  in 
March,  1691. 

^VifRt^  (f^ilKU  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  preacher  among 
the  Friends,  and  his  merit  and  abilities  raised  him  to  several 
offices  of  trust ;  but  his  practice  as  a  physician,  says  Proud, 
"  in  which  he  was  very  knowing  and  eminent,  rendered  him  of 
stiU  greater  value  and  importance  in  the  place  where  he  hved." 
He  died  in  1717,  aged  about  seventy,  universally  respected 
for  his  professional  knowledge  as  well  as  for  his  integiity  and 
public  spirit ;  and  though  for  many  years  he  had  the  principal 
practice  in  Philadelphia,  has  left  no  observations  concerning 
the  diseases  which  he  met  with,  or  his  modes  of  treatment. 
The  following  account  of  an  amputation  performed  by  him  is 
recorded  by  Thomas  Story,  and  is  cmious,  as  well  fi'om  its 
being,  probably,  the  first  operation  of  the  kind  done  in  the 
Province,  as  fi*om  its  giving  some  idea  of  the  state  of  sui'gery 
in  those   days   among    us.      In  the  firing   of  a   salute,   in 

(11) 


ffi^e  (5arlB  Bistorg  of  MMcint  in  f  ^ilatrelp^ia. 

honor  of  the  landmg  of  WiUiam  Peim  at  Chester,  in  1699, 
an  accident  happened  by  which  a  young  man  had  his  hand  and 
arm  shattered,  and  the  histonan  adds,  "  Amputation  was  re- 
solved upon  by  Dr.  Griffith  Owen,  the  surgeon,  and  some 
other  skilful  persons  present.  But  as  the  arm  was  cut  off, 
some  spuits  in  a  basin  happened  to  take  fire,  and  being  spilt 
upon  the  surgeon's  apron,  set  his  cloathes  on  fire ;  and  there 
beino-  a  gi'eat  crowd  of  spectators,  some  of  them  were  in  the 
way,  and  in  danger  of  being  scalded,  as  the  surgeon  himself 
was  upon  the  hands  and  face ;  but  runnuig  into  the  street,  the 
fire  was  quenched ;  and  so  quick  was  he,  that  the  patient  lost 
not  very  much  blood,  though  left  in  that  open  bleeding  condi- 
tion."* WiUiam  Penn,  in  one  of  his  letters,  speaks  of  him  as 
"  tender  Griffith  Owen,  who  both  sees  and  feels." 

A  short  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  above-named  gentle- 
men, and  m  the  same  year,  ^t»  fStltoatlf  3Jontfil>  a  son-in- 
law  of  Wynne,  emigrated  to  this  Province,  and  settled  in  the 
county  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  died  at  an  advanced  age, 
leaving  a  son,  a  physician,  who  in  after  years  became  the 
preceptor  of  Dr.  Cadwalader. 

*  Journal  of  Thomas  Story,  fol.,  1747,  p.  240. 
(12) 


^^t  (Earig  %isiox^  of  Mtbklm  in  jp^ilabdp^ia. 

The  persons  above  mentioned,  constituted  at  this  time  the 
principal  medical  men  of  the  Province.  Gabriel  Thomas,  in 
his  travels  through  Pennsylvania,  pubUshed  in  1689,  remarks : 
"  Of  lawyers  and  doctors  I  shall  say  nothing,  because  the 
country  is  very  peaceable  and  healthy."  Indeed,  in  the  his- 
tory of  these  early  times  medicine  is  scarcely  mentioned. 

"We  but  hear 
Of  the  survivor's  toil  in  their  new  lands, 
Their  numbers  and  success." 

Pretenders  then,  as  now,  abounded,  and  by  them  and  old 
Crones,  who  drew  their  knowledge  from  the  pages  of  some 
one  of  the  many  meagre  and  ill-digested  Family  Advisers  of 
the  day,  it  seems  probable  that  most  of  the  simple  ailments 
of  the  colonists  were  treated.  One  of  our  earliest  poets,  in 
his  story  of  "  Whackum,"  ridicules  in  a  Hvely  manner  those 
quacks  who,  in  spite  of  the  physicians,  retained  their  influ- 
ence among  the  illiterate  vulgar.  The  very  slight  induce- 
ments offered  to  educated  medical  men  to  settle  in  our 
wilderness  may  be  judged  of  from  an  extract  from  a  letter  of 
Charles  Gordon,  of  the  neighboring  colony  of  Jersey,  to  his 
brother,  Dr.  John  Gordon,  of  Montrose.     It  is  of  the  date  of 

(13) 


9i:^e  €»rl$  ^^istars  of  fitlnicxnt  in  fkihMj^\bi. 

1685,  three  years  after  the  arrival  of  Penn,  and  in  it,  he  says : 
"  If  you  desire  to  come  hither  yourself,  you  may  come  as  a 
Planter,  or  a  Merchant,  but  as  a  Doctor  of  Medicine  I  cannot 
advise  you ;  for  I  hear  of  no  diseases  here  to  cure  but  some 
Agues,  and  cutted  legs  and  fingers,  and  there  is  no  want  of 
empu'ics  for  these  already ;  I  confess  you  could  do  more  than 
any  yet  in  America,  being  versed  both  in  Chirurgery  and 
Pharmacie,  for  here  are  abundance  of  curious  herbs,  shrubs, 
and  trees,  and  no  doubt  medicinal  ones  for  making  of  drugs, 
but  there  is  Uttle  or  no  employment  this  way." 

In  process  of  time,  however,  the  gi'owing  Colony  needed 
medical  aid,  and  in  1711,  Dr.  John  Kearsley,  and  in  1717,  Dr. 
Thomas  Graeme,  amved  out  from  England. 

13}^*  ^tlOtW^fil  ^V^tPXt  was  descended  from  an  ancient 
family  in  Perthshire,  Scotland,  and  is  spoken  of  as  having 
been  a  practitioner  in  London.  He  was  well  educated,  of 
poUshed  address,  and  literary  tastes,  and  was  largely  employed 
as  a  practitioner  for  nearly  half  a  century.  He  possessed  the 
full  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens,  but  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  active  in  promoting  any  of  our  pubUc  institutions. 
As  he  advanced  in  life,  a  deafiiess,  to  which  he  had  been  in 
part  subject  for  many  years,  increased  so  much  as  to  induce 

(14) 


Sl^^e  €»rls  l^istorg  of  MMcxnt  in  ^^tktrelpl^m. 

him  to  decline,  in  a  measure,  the  practice  of  physic.  Tlie 
Proprietaries  bestowed  on  him  a  lucrative  office  in  the  Cus- 
toms, that  of  iN'aval  Officer  for  the  Port  of  Philadelphia, 
wherein  he  gave  great  satisfaction,  and  having  a  turn  for  agii- 
cultural  pm'suits,  he  passed  much  of  his  time  at  his  farm  in 
Bucks  County,  Graeme  Park,  which  his  affluent  cux-um- 
stances  allowed  him  the  means  of  greatly  embeUishing, 

WV*  3)0)|U  Wtt^VUlt^  was  bom  in  England,  emigrated  to 
Pennsylvania  in  quest  of  a  professional  berth,  and  became  one 
of  our  most  active  and  valuable  citizens.  He  was  much 
esteemed  as  a  man  of  eminence  and  skill  in  his  profession, 
and  for  many  years  was  extensively  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  both  medicine  and  surgery.  He  had  talents  also  for  pubUc 
life,  and  was  long  one  of  the  representatives  for  this  city  in 
the  House  of  Assembly,  and  distinguished  himself  so  much 
in  debate  where  the  interests  of  the  Province  were  concerned, 
as  to  have  been  on  several  occasions  borne  from  the  Assembly 
to  his  own  house  on  the  shoulders  of  the  people.  He  pos- 
sessed considerable  skill  and  taste  in  architectural  matters, 
and  it  is  said  that  we  are  mdebted  to  him  for  the  plan  of 
Christ  Church,  a  building  which,  at  the  time  of  its  erection, 
in  point  of  elegance  and  taste,  surpassed  anythmg  of  the  kind 

(15) 


ill  America.  He  appropriated,  by  will,  a  large  part  of  his 
property  to  the  foundation  of  Christ  Church  Hospital,  an 
institution  for  the  support  of  poor  widows  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  of  which  communion  he  was  an  earnest  member. 
Dr.  Kearsley  was  the  preceptor  of  Zachary,  Redman,  Bard, 
and  others,  who  afterwards  became  distinguished  among  us. 
He  is  stated  to  have  possessed  a  morose  and  unliappy  temper, 
and  to  have  treated  liis  pupils  with  great  rigor,  requiring  of 
them  services  of  the  most  menial  kind.  He  died  in  1772,  in 
the  eighty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  greatly  regretted  by  our 
citizens.  From  a  poetical  panegyi'ic  on  him,  published  in  the 
"  Pemisylvania  Mercury,"  for  l!>rovember,  1744,  I  take  the 
following  extract : — 

"  Of  his  great  labors  and  admired  skill 
In  cure  of  mortals  seized  with  every  ill, 
What  safe  relief  great  multitudes  have  found 
In  every  Grief,  Distemper,  Tracture,  Wound  I 
How  far  and  wide  his  practice  has  been  spread 
To  heal  the  sick,  and  almost  raise  the  dead 
To  speak  at  large,  the  torrent  runs  too  long 
For  Plato's  numbers  and  for  Tully's  tongue. 
Can  boys  enlarge  the  sun's  refulgent  light. 
Or  add  new  lustre,  magnitude,  or  height, 
(16) 


®^e  €atls  l^tstors  of  BMdm  in  jp^lkbelp^m. 

AYhen  they,  with  glasses,  iu  their  childish  plays, 

Make  various  angles  with  refracted  rays  ? 

So  Panegyrics  on  the  Doctor  spent 

"With  feeble  wings  fly  short  of  our  intent ; 

His  worthy  name  with  merits  compassed  round, 

Shines  bright  in  Fame,  with  true-born  Honor  crowned." 

A  nephew  of  the  above  mentioned  gentlemen,  Hr*  3^0i|tl 
WttUtUltPf  ^V*f  was  also  a  physician  of  note,  and  m  1769 
published  an  able  paper  on  the  Angina  Maligna,  which  had 
prevailed  extensively  in  the  years  1746  and  1760.  From  the 
part  he  took  in  poUtics  in  1775,  he  became  obnoxious  to  the 
Wliig  party,  and,  according  to  Gray  don,*  had  been  detected 
in  some  hostile  machmations.  Like  Ms  uncle,  liis  temper  was 
unfortunate,  and  he  was  impetuous  and  rash.  He  was  seized 
at  his  own  door  by  a  party  of  militia,  and  in  the  attempt  to 
resist  them  received  a  wound  in  his  hand  from  a  bayonet. 
Being  overpowered,  he  was  placed  in  a  cart  and  paraded  through 
the  streets  to  the  tune  of  the  Rogue's  March.  The  doctor,  who 
lost  none  of  his  intrepidity,  answered  the  reproaches  and  out- 
rages of  the  mob  vehemently,  and,  by  way  of  retahation, 
struck  up  "  God  save  the  King,"  and  continued  so  infuriate 

*  Memoirs  of  a  Life  passed  in  Pennsylvania.    Harrisburg,  1811. 
3  (17) 


that  he  more  than  once  fainted  from  loss  of  blood  and  the  vio- 
lence of  his  feelings.  "  I  happened,"  says  the  writer  above 
quoted,  "to  be  at  the  coffee-house  when  the  concourse 
arrived  there.  They  made  a  halt,  while  the  doctor  foaming 
with  rage  and  indignation,  without  his  hat,  his  wig  dishevelled 
and  bloody  from  his  wounded  hand,  stood  up  in  the  cart  and 
called  for  a  bowl  of  punch.  It  was  quickly  handed  to  him ; 
when  so  vehement  was  his  thirst,  that  he  drained  it  of  its  con- 
tents (to  the  health  of  King  George)  before  he  took  it  from  his 
lips.  It  had  been  determined  to  give  him  a  coating  of  tar  and 
feathers  ;  but  the  tub  containing  the  material,  which  had  been 
set  m  a  conspicuous  position,  was  overturned  by  a  friendly 
officer.  He  was  finally  deposited  under  guard  in  the  State 
House,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  was  removed  to  the  jail  in 
Yorktown,  where  he  became  insane,  as  is  said,  from  political 
excitement,  and  the  gross  indignities  which  had  been  offered 
to  him.  He  died  at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  in  I^ovember,  1777."  The 
height  to  which  political  animosities  were  carried  at  this 
period  is  well  shown  in  the  case  of  this  gentleman.  He  was 
not  only  unanimously  expelled  from  the  Society  (St.  George's), 
of  which  he  had  long  been  a  member,  and  the  minute  directed 
to  be  published  in  the  newspapers,  but  we  are  told  by  Chris- 

(18) 


®^e  ^ntljs  Ulstarg  of  j^ebidne  In  |i^ilabelp^t». 

topher  Marshall*  that  his  trial  in  the  church  at  Carlisle — more 
than  two  years  afterwards — "  disgusted  many  of  the  church 
party  in  that  place,  so  that  they  declared  against  going  to 
that  church  any  more." 

]9^ttlt1^  li^ittf»  Chirurgeon,  is  often  mentioned  in  our 
records.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  education,  and  of 
some  note  in  the  profession,  although  I  can  learn  but  little  of 
him.  In  1720,  he  held  an  office  analogous  to  that  of  Port 
Physician,  under  the  health  law  of  1700,  and  had  power  con- 
ferred on  him  "  to  board  sickly  vessels,  and  examine  into  the 
health  of  the  crew  and  passengers."  In  1723,  he  was  chosen 
Secretary  of  the  Colonial  Council,  in  the  place  of  James  Logan, 
who  retired.  In  1729,  it  is  mentioned  that,  along  with  two 
other  eminent  men  (Drs.  Kearsley  and  Graeme),  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  make  "a  personal  examination  of  an  individual 
accused  of  impotency."  In  1740,  he  was  still  acting  as  Secre- 
tary to  the  Council,  under  Governor  Morris.  He  resigned 
this  office  m  1743,  on  account  of  failing  health,  and  in  appre- 
ciation of  his  services,  he  received  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his 
strict  probity,  diligence,  and  exactness  in  the  discharge  of  his 

*  Passages  from  the  Diary  of  Christopher  Marshall,  Philada.,  1849,  p.  163. 

(19) 


e  dntlyi  l^isiot^  iff  fUMtim  in  jp^ikbdp^k. 

duties.*  At  about  this  time  he  left  the  Province  and  most 
probably  never  retm*ned,  for  Franklin  in  his  autobiography- 
speaks  of  his  having  met  him  "  many  years  after  at  his  native 
place,  St.  Andrews,  Scotland." 

N^early  contemporary  with  the  first  Dr.  Kearsley,  were  Drs. 
Lloyd  Zachary,  WilHam  Shippen,  and  Thomas  Cadwalader. 

25 V^  ILlOpXt  ZUt^^VS  was  bom  in  Boston,  in  the  year 
1701.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Lloyd,  the  fii^st 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  she  dying  soon  after  his  birth, 
he  was  sent  to  the  care  of  an  aunt  in  Philadelphia  for  educa- 
tion. He  entered  on  the  study  of  physic  with  Dr.  Kearsley, 
and  in  1723  visited  Europe  to  perfect  himself  in  that  science, 
fi'om  whence  he  returned  in  1726.  Though  of  a  dehcate 
jframe  and  possessed  of  fortune,  he  on  his  return  commenced 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  quickly  rose  to  emmence  in 
it.  His  skill  and  judgment  are  said  to  have  been  great,  while 
the  elegance  and  frankness  of  his  manners  engaged  the  love 
and  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  was  one  of  the  foun- 
ders of,  and  first  physicians  to,  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital ; 
was  a  founder  also  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  by  his 
will,  as  well  as  during  life,  was  a  liberal  benefactor  to  both. 

*  Colonial  Records,  vols.  iii.  and  iv. 
(20) 


^\t  (Sntlyi  J^istors  of  fUMcint  in  ^^iI»bHp^l». 

He  never  mamed,  and  died  suddenly  September  26th,  1756, 
while  visiting  one  of  his  patients.  A  portrait  of  him  is  in 
possession  of  the  Hospital.  He  is  described  by  his  pupil,  Dr. 
John  Jones,  "  as  a  person  whose  whole  life  had  been  one  con- 
tinued scene  of  benevolence  and  humanity." 

WV*  WiilUUVX  ^l^ip^tn  was  born  m  Philadelphia,  in 
1712,  and  there  received  his  entu-e  education,  both  literary  and 
medical.  Like  his  Mend  and  colleague,  Dr.  Zachary,  he  played 
an  important  part  in  the  foimdation  of  several  of  our  literary 
and  charitable  institutions,  to  which  also  he  was  a  benefactor. 
He  was  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  was  one  of  the  first  physi- 
cians to  the  Hospital,  and  Yice-President  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society.  He  also  contributed  largely  towards 
the  founding  of  the  College  of  ^N'ew  Jersey,  and  bequeathed 
to  it  a  considerable  perpetual  annuity.  As  a  practitioner,  he 
had  a  high  reputation,  and  an  extensive  business.  He  died  in 
1801,  having  Hved  to  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-nine,  but 
relinquished  the  practice  of  his  profession  about  the  sixtieth 
year  of  his  life. 

3it*  STilOtUai^  ^attftHalalrert  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Wynne, 
was  born  in  1708.  After  pursuing  his  medical  studies  with 
Dr.  Edward  Jones,  a  worthy  Welsh  physician,  settled   at 

(21) 


(Karig  J|ist0r8  of  i&Mcim  in  fll^ilabelp^ta. 

Merion,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  he  visited  Europe, 
and  having  there,  under  Mr.  Cheselden,  devoted  himself  to 
anatomical  pursuits,  upon  his  return  to  Philadelphia  he 
engaged  in  dissections  and  demonstrations  for  the  instruction 
of  his  brethren,  the  fii'st  ever  made  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  it 
is  worthy  of  notice  that  among  those  who  availed  themselves 
of  his  teaching  was  the  elder  Shippen. 

Dr.  Cadwalader  was  one  of  the  physicians  appointed  to  the 
Pemisylvania  Hospital  at  its  commencement,  and  for  more  than 
thirty  years  continued  to  be  annually  re-elected  there.  He  was 
much  celebrated  for  the  polish  of  his  manners  and  benevolence 
of  disposition ;  and  these,  added  to  his  solid  attainments  in 
medicine,  soon  gained  for  him  a  distinguished  position  as  a 
practitioner.  His  courteous  deportment  was  on  one  occasion 
the  means  of  preserving  his  life.  A  provincial  ofSicer  in  1760, 
laboring  under  some  alienation  of  mind,  left  his  home  one 
morning  armed  with  a  gun,  with  a  determination  to  Mil  the  first 
person  he  should  meet.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  before  he 
met  Dr.  Cadwalader ;  the  doctor  bowed  politely  to  the  officer, 
who,  though  unknown  to  him,  had  the  appearance  of  a  gentle- 
man, and  accosted  him  with  "  Good  morning,  sir ;  what  sport?" 
The  officer  answered  civilly,  engaged  in  conversation  with  the 

(22) 


e  (j^arl^  l^btorg  of  iHebidne  In  |^l^il»bdp^i». 

doctor,  and,  as  he  afterwards  declared,  was  so  charmed  with 
his  pleasing  manner  and  address,  that  he  had  no  resolution  to 
carry  out  his  desperate  intention.  Impelled,  however,  by  the 
same  gloomy  disposition  that  actuated  him  when  he  set  out, 
he  a  few  minutes  after  shot  a  well  known  citizen,  Mr.  Robert 
Scull,  for  which  crime  he  was  tried  and  executed. 

Dr.  Cadwalader  was  the  author  of  an  octavo  volume  of 
forty-two  pages,  entitled  "  An  Essay  on  the  West  India  Dry 
Gripes,  with  the  method  of  preventing  and  curing  that  cruel 
Distemper,"  to  which  is  added,  "An  extraordinary  Case  in 
Physic."  Printed  and  sold  by  B.  Franklin,  1745.  This  was 
one  of  the  first  medical  publications  in  America,  and  the  first 
which  has  come  down  to  us  made  in  our  city.  The  disease 
treated  of  by  Dr.  C.  under  the  name  of  Dry  Gripes,  was  in 
his  day  a  very  common  afiection  here,  arising  from  the  use  of 
punch.  This  beverage  was  made  from  Jamaica  rum,  and  was 
the  fashionable  drink,  until  pointed  out  as  giving  rise  to  the 
disease  in  question,  which  it  did,  in  consequence  of  containing 
poisoning  qualities  derived  from  the  leaden  pipes  which  were 
used  in  its  distillation.  The  common  mode  of  treating  the 
disease  was  by  the  employment  of  crude  mercury  and  drastic 
purgatives,  and  the  object  of  the  tract  in  question  was  to 

(23) 


expose  the  bad  effects  of  these,  and  to  recommend  to  his 
fellow  practitioners  mild  cathartics,  and  the  use  of  opiates,  a 
practice  which  was  afterwards  adopted  and  highly  recom- 
mended by  Dr.  Warren,  of  London.  The  aj^pendix  to  this 
essay  is  a  very  interesting  case  of  Molhties  Ossium,  occmring 
in  a  woman  aged  forty,  who  m  health  was  five  feet  high,  "  but 
after  death,  though  all  her  limbs  were  stretched  out  straight, 
was  no  more  than  thi*ee  feet  seven  inches ;"  it  is  stated  that 
the  bones  in  her  anns  and  legs  had  been  so  pliable  for  two 
years  as  to  be  easily  bent  into  a  cm-ve,  and  for  several  months 
before  her  decease  they  "  were  as  limber  as  a  rag,  and  would 
bend  any  way,  with  less  difficulty  than  the  muscular  parts 
of  a  healthy  person's  leg,  without  the  interposition  of  the  bones. 
An  examination  of  the  body  was  made  by  Dr.  Cadwalader, 
1742 ;  and  the  post-mortem  appearance  of  the  different  viscera 
of  the  chest  and  abdomen,  as  well  of  the  bones  and  joints,  are 
careftilly  detailed.* 

*  This  was  one  of  the  first  recorded  post-mortem  examinations  made  in  tlie 
American  Colonies.  The  only  notice  of  one  made  previously  to  this,  of  which  I 
am  aware,  is  noted  in  the  early  Dutch  records  of  New  York,  viz.,  that  on  the 
body  of  the  English  Governor,  Sloughter,  in  1691,  who  was  suspected  of  having 
died  from  poison. 

(24) 


31 1»  ^flOtnaOS  BOntf  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1712,  and 
began  liis  medical  studies  in  that  State  under  Dr.  Hamilton, 
a  learned  practitioner  of  Calvert  County,  who  had  emigrated 
thence  from  Scotland  in  the  year  1700.  He  afterwards  trav- 
elled in  Europe,  and  spent  a  considerable  time  in  Paris,  in 
attendance  upon  the  lectui-es  at  the  Hotel-Dieu.  Upon  his 
return  to  America  he  settled  in  Philadelphia,  and  commenced 
business  in  1734.  Dr.  Bond  took  high  rank  as  a  surgeon  as 
well  as  a  physician,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  skill  in 
Hthotomy.  I  find  mention  made  of  his  having  performed  that 
operation  successfully  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  as  early 
as  1756,*  and  afterwards  in  1759,  '62,  ^65,  '68,  and  many 
succeeding  years.  In  1765  it  is  mentioned  that  he  cut  three 
patients,  and  removed  stones  weighing  one  ounce  and  five 
di-achms  (a  child  aged  seven),  two  and  a  half  drachms,  and 
another  "  of  large  size." 

*  This  was  the  first  case  of  stone  operated  ou  at  the  Penna.  Hospital  (October 
29tli,  175G),  and  was  soon  after  the  opening  of  this  institution,  during  its  location 
at  Fifth  and  Market  streets.  The  patient  was  "a  female,  from  whom  was  ex- 
tracted a  stone  of  unusual  size. "  In  a  report  made  to  the  American  Medical 
Association  (Transactions,  vol.  iv.  p.  272),  Dr.  Paul  P.  Eve  mentions  that  about 
the  year  1760  Dr.  Jones,  of  I^ew  York,  first  performed  the  operation  of  lithotomy 
in  America.     The  first  case  of  Dr.  Bond  was  four  years  previous  to  this. 

4  (25) 


From  an  old  letter  which  has  come  under  my  notice,  wi^tten 
by  one  not  belonging  to  our  profession,  I  extract  the  following, 
which  is  interesting  from  giving  us  some  idea  of  Bond's  dex- 
terity and  worth  as  an  operator,  as  well  as  of  the  state  of 
surgery  here,  at  the  early  day  in  which  it  was  wiitten.  It  is 
of  the  date  of  1772,  and  says,  "  I  had  the  curiosity  last  week 
to  be  present  at  the  hospital,  at  Dr.  Bond's  cutting  for  stone, 
and  was  agreeably  disappointed,  for  instead  of  seeing  an 
operation,  said  to  be  perplexed  with  difficulty  and  uncertainty, 
and  attended  with  violence  and  cruelty,  it  was  perfoimed  with 
such  ease,  regularity,  and  success,  that  it  scarcely  gave  a  shock 
to  the  most  sympathizing  bystander,  the  whole  being  com- 
pleted, and  a  stone  of  two  inches  in  length,  and  one  in  diame- 
ter, extracted  in  less  than  two  minutes."  "If,"  adds  the 
writer,  "  surgery  is  productive  of  such  blessed  effects,  may 
we  not  with  Cicero  justly  rank  it  among  the  first  of  arts,  and 
esteem  it  worthy  of  the  highest  culture  and  encouragement  ?" 
Besides  enjoying  an  extensive  practice  for  a  period  of  half  a 
century,  this  eminent  physician  was  among  the  foremost  in 
promoting  the  foitnation  of  our  useful  institutions.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Amencan  Philosophical 
Society,   and   was   its   first  Vice-President.      The   credit   of 

(26) 


originating  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  is  generally,  though 
erroneously,  accorded  to  Dr.  Franklin,  for  he  himself  asserts 
that  the  suggestion  of  it  is  due  to  Dr.  Bond. 

When  the  medical  school  was  originated,  the  gentleman 
who  proposed  and  digested  the  measure,  Dr.  Morgan,  thought 
it  necessary  to  the  design  that  it  should  enjoy  the  aid  of  Dr. 
Bond's  skiU  and  experience  by  his  delivering  a  course  of  clini- 
cal lectures  in  the  hospital — the  first  regular  lectures  of  the 
kind  ever  given  in  America;  and  his  Introductory  to  the 
course,  which  is  extant,  and  which  will  be  particularly  refer- 
red to  hereafter,  shows  how  well  he  was  fitted  for  the  task. 
That  they  were  properly  appreciated,  is  attested  by  the  fact  of 
their  being  attended  in  1766,  the  first  year,  by  a  regular  class 
of  thirty  students.  In  1768  he  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Clinical  Medicine  in  the  University  of  Pemisylvania.  Dr. 
Rush  states  that  it  is  to  Dr.  Bond  that  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
is  indebted  for  the  mtroduction  of  mercury  into  general  use  in 
the  practice  of  medicine.  He  called  it  emphatically  "a  revo- 
lutionary remedy,"  and  prescribed  it  in  all  diseases  which 
resisted  the  common  modes  of  practice.  He  gave  it  fi^eely  in 
the  Cynanche  Tracheahs.  Bathing  at  this  period  was  but 
Httle  employed  in  the  treatment  of  acute  diseases.     Dr.  Bond, 

(27) 


ffifee  Carig  Histors  of  ffliebinne  in  |9^ilabelp%ia. 

however,  used  both  the  hot  and  cold  baths  in  the  most  Uberal 
manner,  together  with  the  vapor  and  warm  air  baths,  both  of 
which  he  introduced  into  the  practice  of  our  Hospital. 
Though  naturally  of  a  delicate  constitution,  Dr.  Bond,  by 
strict  attention  to  his  health,  attained  the  age  of  seventy-two. 
He  died  March  26th,  1784. 

Dr.  Bond  communicated  to  the  "  Medical  Observations  and 
Inquiries"  of  London,  two  papers,  the  first,  giving  a  minutely 
detailed  history  and  dissection  of  an  unusual  case  which  fell 
under  his  obsei*vation  in  1753,  viz.,  of  a  lady  who,  after  an  ill- 
ness of  eighteen  months,  attended  with  peculiar  symptoms, 
discharged  by  stool  a  worm  twenty  inches  long,  and  an  inch 
in  diameter,  and  soon  afterwards  died.  Upon  dissection,  the 
liver  was  found  to  be  much  enlarged  and  hardened,  containing 
a  cavity  holding  nearly  two  quarts,  filled  with  bloody  water, 
and  a  few  lumps  of  coagulated  blood.  On  the  side  of  this 
cavity  was  an  opening  into  the  hepatic  duct,  and  the  biliary 
ducts  were  so  dilated  as  readily  to  admit  the  end  of  a  common 
tallow  candle.  The  worm,  a  figure  of  which  accompanies  the 
case,  was  annular,  "  of  a  red  color,  and  filled  with  blood  in  the 
manner  of  a  leech,"  and  was  discharged  in  two  parts.  The 
worm  was  preserved  and  sent  over  to   London  to  William 

(28) 


e  (Earlg  l^tstor^  of  jSebidne  in  j^^ikbtlp^m. 

Hunter,  in  whose  anatomical  cabinet  Dr.  Morgan  says  that  he 
saw  it,  ten  years  afterwards.  The  second  paper  (1759)  related 
to  the  nse  of  Peruvian  Bark  in  scrofula.  These,  together 
with  an  address  dehvered  before  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  in  1T82,  "  On  the  Rank  of  Man  in  the  scale  of  Being, 
and  the  conveniences  and  advantages  he  derives  fi'om  the 
Arts  and  Sciences,"  and  his  introductory  lecture  already 
adverted  to,  are  his  only  literary  publications  which  have  come 
down  to  us. 

His  brother,  MW  ^f^itltaU  iJOttlT^  who  died  in  1773,  aged 
fifty-five,  was  also  educated  in  Maryland,  but  after  studyuig 
at  Leyden,  Edinburgh,  Paris,  and  London,  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia. To  this  gentleman,  along  with  Thomas  Hopkinson, 
and  his  brother,  is  due  the  credit  of  originating  the  scheme  of 
the  College,  now  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  confined 
his  practice  strictly  to  medical  cases,  and  no  medical  man  in 
Pennsylvania,  says  Wistar,  "ever  left  behind  him  a  higher 
character  for  professional  sagacity,  or  for  the  amiable  quahties 
of  the  heart." 

CcllrUl^l^lItt  ^^Stffil  was  another  distinguished  prac- 
titioner of  those  days.  He  was  one  of  the  first  pupils  of  Dr. 
Bond,  and  completed  his  medical  studies  in  England.     After 

(29) 


I^e  CSarIg  ?|tst0rg  of  Mttficint  in  pi^ilabtlp^ia. 

liis  return,  he  practised  physic  for  a  few  years  in  the  island  of 
Jamaica,  but  finally  settled  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  much 
esteemed  as  a  physician  and  man  of  learning,  was  long 
attached  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and,  according  to 
Franklin,  was  the  originator  of  the  Medical  Library  in  that 
institution.  He  bore  the  reputation  of  an  eminent,  candid, 
and  successful  physician,  whose  knowledge  was  deep  and 
liberal,  and  improved  by  an  extensive  practice,  diligent  obser- 
vation, and  a  penetrating  judgment,  as  well  as  a  zealous  pro- 
moter of  public  institutions  and  literary  mterests  of  his  State. 
He  died  June,  1773,  aged  fifty-seven,  after  a  lingering  illness. 
30\)n  Mttitn^n  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1722,  and 
after  receiving  his  preparatory  education  at  the  Academy  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Tennent,  in  Bucks  County,  commenced  his 
medical  studies  under  Dr.  Kearsley.  On  the  expiration  of  his 
apprenticeship  he  went  to  Bermuda,  where  he  continued  for 
several  years  to  exercise  his  profession,  and  thence  proceeded  to 
Europe  for  the  purpose  of  completmg  liis  medical  education. 
He  spent  a  year  at  Edinburgh  in  attending  the  lectures  of  that 
city,  another  at  Guy's  Hospital,  London,  and  the  hospitals  at 
Paris,  and  finally  graduated  at  the  University  of  Leyden,  in 
1748.     At  his  first  setting  out  in  Philadelphia  he  practised 

(30) 


K^e  (Earig  J^tst0rs  of  MtWint  in  fkilniitl^\m. 

both  surgery  and  midwifery,  and  as  an  accoucheur  is  stated 
to  have  possessed  gi'eat  skill,  but  he  soon  declined  these 
branches,  and  confined  himself  to  the  practice  of  physic.  In 
this  he  early  rose  to  eminence,  but  about  the  fortieth  year  of 
his  age  he  was  afflicted  with  an  abscess  of  the  liver,  the  con- 
tents of  which  were  discharged  through  his  lungs,  and  in 
consequence  of  subsequent  delicate  health,  he  withdi-ew  in  a 
measure  from  extensive  business  at  a  comparatively  early 
age.  Upon  the  foundation  of  the  College  of  Physicians  in 
1786,  he  was  elected  president  of  that  body,  and  for  a  long 
period  was  one  of  the  physicians  of  the  hospital.  From  these 
institutions,  in  both  of  which  he  ever  manifested  the  deepest 
interest,  he  only  retired  in  consequence  of  the  infirmities  of 
age.  His  sole  publication,  besides  an  elegant  and  learned 
thesis,  "  De  Abortu,"  was  a  defence  of  inoculation,  pubhshed 
in  1759,  in  which  he  urges  the  use  of  mercury,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare the  system  for  the  reception  of  smallpox.  Dr.  Redman 
was  a  strong  advocate  for  a  bold  practice,  and  considered  a 
more  energetic  treatment  necessary  in  the  cure  of  diseases  in 
this  chmate  than  in  Europe.  He  bled  largely  in  the  yellow 
fever  of  1762,  and  gave  his  influence  in  support  of  that  prac- 
tice in  1793.     He  Avrote  an  account  of  the  yellow  fever,  as  it 

(31) 


ffi^e  (Karlg  %hiot}s  of  MtUdm  in  Jl^ikbtlp^ia. 

prevailed  in  Philadelphia  in  the  year  1762,  which  was  commu- 
nicated to  the  College  of  Physicians  during  the  epidemic  of 
1793.  This  remained  in  manuscript  till  1865,  when,  as  no 
description  of  that  epidemic  had  ever  been  published,  as  well 
as  on  account  of  its  merits,  and  as  a  valuable  contribution  to 
our  medical  history,  the  tract  was  judged  worthy  of  publica- 
tion by  that  body.  He  employed  mercury  freely  in  all  chronic 
affections,  and  in  diseases  of  old  age  he  considered  small  and 
repeated  bleedings  as  the  first  of  remedies.  ]S"o  physician 
of  his  day  exerted  a  more  powerful  and  extensive  influence 
over  the  practice  of  medicine  in  this  country  than  Dr.  Red- 
man. "He  was  faithful  and  punctual  in  his  attendance  upon 
his  patients.  In  a  sick  room  he  possessed  the  virtues  and 
talents  of  a  specific  kind ;  he  suspended  pain  by  his  soothing 
manner,  or  chased  it  away  by  his  conversation,  which  was 
occasionally  facetious,  and  full  of  anecdotes,  or  serious  and 
instructive,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  patients'  diseases, 
or  the  state  of  their  minds.  He  died  in  March,  1806,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six,  and  until  within  a  few  years  of  his  decease, 
continued  to  read  the  latest  medical  writers,  and  even  warmly 
embraced  some  modem  doctrines  and  modes  of  practice." 
A  late  well-known  antiquarian,  who  had  often  seen  him  in 

(32) 


advanced  life,  gives  the  following  description  of  him,  which  is 
of  interest,  as  showing  the  dress  and  appearance  of  a  pro- 
minent medical  man  of  the  old  school.  "The  doctor,  who 
lived  in  Second  Street  near  Arch,  had  retired  from  practice 
altogether,  and  was  known  to  the  public  eye  as  an  anti- 
quated-looking old  gentleman,  usually  habited  in  a  broad- 
skirted  dark  coat,  with  long  pocket  flaps  buttoned  across 
his  under  dress,  wearing,  in  strict  conformity  with  the  cut  of 
his  coat,  a  pair  of  Baron  Steuben's  military  shaped  boots,  com- 
ing above  the  knees  for  riding ;  his  hat  flapped  before,  and 
cocked  up  smartly  behind,  covering  a  full-bottomed  powdered 
wig,  in  the  front  of  which  might  be  seen  an  eagle-pointed  nose, 
separating  a  pair  of  eagle  black  eyes,  his  lips  exhibiting  now 
and  then  a  quick  motion,  as  though  at  the  moment  he  was 
endeavoring  to  extract  the  essence  of  a  small  quid.  As  thus 
described  in  habit  and  in  person,  he  was  to  be  seen  almost 
daily,  in  fair  weather,  mounted  on  a  short,  fat,  black  switch- 
tailed  horse,  and  riding  for  his  amusement  and  exercise,  in  a 
brisk  racking  canter  about  the  streets  and  suburbs  of  the 
city." 

The  same  writer  gives  the  following  anecdote  of  him :   "  He 
was  well  known  to  most  of  the  citizens,  and  one  day,  without 

5  (33) 


ceremony,  as  he  often  did,  stopped  in  at  a  public  office,  and 
with  a  pleasant  nod  to  its  occupant,  sat  himself  down  to  a 
table  to  make  some  memoranda.  While  thus  occupied,  he 
was  interrupted  by  a  forward  and  presuming  stranger,  who 
entered,  and  wanted  of  him  some  medical  advice  gratis. 
Finding  himself  thus  addressed,  he  lifted  the  corner  of  his 
wig  as  usual,  and  desu-ed  the  person  to  repeat  his  question 
more  loudly,  which  he  did.  'Doctor,  what  would  you  ad- 
vise as  the  best  thing  for  a  pain  in  the  breast  ?'  The  wig 
dropped  immediately  to  its  proper  place,  and  after  a  seemingly 
profound  study  for  a  moment,  the  doctor  replied,  '  Oh !  ay,  I 
tell  you,  my  good  friend,  the  very  best  thing  I  can  advise  for 
a  pain  in  the  breast  is— to  consult  your  physician.'  " 

Here  it  may  be  well  to  mention  that  in  the  last  century,  in 
Redman's  time,  most  physicians  made  their  visits  on  foot,  very 
few  but  old  men  riding  on  horseback,  or  in  little  phaetons.  In 
stormy  weather  they  defended  themselves  with  top  boots,  oiled 
linen  hat  covers,  and  large  shoulder  capes,  hooked  around  the 
neck,  extenduig  to  the  knees  of  the  same  material,  called  roque- 
laires.  When  umbrellas  were  introduced,  the  doctors  were 
the  first  to  patronize  them.  These  articles,  although  very 
heavy  and  clumsy,  being  made  with  thick  rattan  sticks,  and 

(34) 


e  (Kttrig  Jl^istorg  of  Mtbicim  in  p^ilabelp^ia. 

covered  with  oiled  silk,  were  at  first  ridiculed  as  effeminate  by 
the  newspaj^ers  (1772) ;  but  some  of  the  professionals,  at  the 
head  of  whom  were  Drs.  Chancellor  and  Morgan,  had  the 
hardihood  to  cany  them,  and  they  soon  came  into  general 
use. 

Contemporary  with  the  latter  practitioners  whom  I  have 
mentioned  was  MV.  ^Xf^tn  (S^f|Otn|lS$Ont  who  settled  m 
Philadelphia  in  the  year  1748.  He  was  origuially  fi-om  Edin- 
burgh, but  came  here  fi-om  Prince  George's  County,  Md., 
whither  he  had  emigrated  in  the  early  part  of  the  century.  In 
1750  he  pubhshed  "  A  Discourse  on  the  preparation  of  the 
body  for  the  Smallpox;  and  the  manner  of  receiving  the  infec- 
tion," a  production  which  was  highly  spoken  of  both  in 
Europe  and  in  this  countiy.  At  the  period  it  was  written, 
inoculation  seemed  to  be  on  the  decline,  and  Dr.  Thompson 
asserts  that  the  practice  of  it  was  so  unsuccessful  in  Phila- 
delphia that  many  were  disposed  to  abandon  it.  It  was  upon 
the  suggestion  of  the  1392d  aphorism  of  Boerhaave  that  he 
was  led  to  prepare  his  patients  by  a  composition  of  antimony 
and  mercm-y,  which  he  states  he  had  constantly  employed  for 
twelve  years  with  great  success.  Dr.  Thompson  died  in  the 
city  of  ^ew  York  in  September,  1767,  and  is  described  as  a 

(35) 


(  dnxlyi  %hiifx^  of  MtVtcim  in  |^^ilabelp^l»» 


physician  of  distinguished  abiHties  in  his  profession,  well  versed 
in  polite  literature,  and  of  unblemished  honor  and  integrity. 

2^fUfam  ^^ippttif  3V.f  one  of  the  first  teachers  of 
Anatomy  and  Midwifery  of  which  our  country  can  boast, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1736.  He  received  his  primary 
education  at  the  seminary  of  Mr.  Finley,  at  Nottingham,  and 
was  afterwards  placed  at  the  College  of  'New  Jersey,  where  he 
is  said  to  have  been  remarked  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Latin 
language,  as  well  as  for  his  oratorical  powers.  After  gradua- 
tion he  began  his  medical  studies  in  the  ofiice  of  his  father,  and 
at  the  expu'ation  of  thi-ee  years  went  to  Europe,  in  order  still 
further  to  pursue  them.  His  father,  writing  to  a  correspond- 
ent in  England,  thus  speaks  of  him :  "  My  son  has  had  his 
education  in  the  best  college  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and 
has  been  studying  physic  with  me,  besides  which  he  has  had 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  practice  of  every  gentleman  of 
note  in  our  city.  But  for  want  of  that  variety  of  operations, 
and  those  frequent  dissections  which  are  common  in  older 
countries,  I  must  send  him  to  Europe.  His  scheme  is  to  gain 
all  the  knowledge  he  can  in  anatomy,  physic,  and  surgery. 
He  will  stay  in  London  for  the  winter,  and  shall  attend  Mr. 
Hunter's  anatomical  lectures  and  private  dissections,  injections, 

(36) 


S^e  €»rls  ^hiot^  of  fiteMdne  in  )^^ikbelpl^i». 

etc.,  and  at  the  same  time  go  through  a  course  of  midwifery 
with  Dr.  Smellie ;  also  enter  as  a  pupil  in  Guy's  Hospital.  As 
soon  as  the  season  is  over,  he  may  go  to  France,  and  live  with 
Dr.  Leese  in  Rouen,  and  there  study  physic  until  he  can  pass 
an  examination  and  take  a  degree."  While  in  London  he 
studied  Anatomy  with  John  Hunter,  and  gave  much  atten- 
tion to  Midwifery,  under  the  direction  of  his  brother  William 
and  Dr.  McKenzie,  a  then  celebrated  teacher  in  that  branch 
of  medicme.  He  graduated  at  Edinburgh,  the  subject  of  his 
thesis  being,  "  De  Placentae  cum  Utero  IS^exu ;"  and  after  an 
absence  of  five  years  he  retui'ned  home  in  1762,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  upon 
Anatomy,  with  dissections.  His  announcement  of  this  course 
was  made  in  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  leading  newspaper  of 
the  day,  as  follows  :— 

"  Philadelphia,  November  11th,  1762. 
"Mr.  Hall  :— 

"  Please  to  inform  the  public  that  a  course  of  Anatomical  Lectures  will  be 
opened  this  winter  in  Philadelphia,  for  the  advantage  of  the  young  gentlemen 
now  engaged  in  the  study  of  Physic,  in  this  and  the  neighbouring  provinces, 
whose  circumstances  and  connections  will  not  admit  of  their  going  abroad  for 
improvement  to  the  anatomical  schools  in  Europe  ;  and  also  for  the  entertainment 
of  any  gentlemen  who  may  have  the  curiosity  to  understand  the  anatomy  of  the 

(37) 


e  d^arlg  l^isiar^  of  Utebidne  in  fl^llabelp^la. 


Human  Frame.  In  these  lectures  the  situation,  figure,  and  structure  of  all  the 
parts  of  the  Human  body  will  be  demonstrated,  their  respective  uses  explained, 
and  as  far  as  a  course  of  anatomy  will  permit,  their  diseases,  with  the  indications 
and  methods  of  cure  briefly  treated  of.  All  the  necessary  operations  in  surgery 
will  be  performed,  a  course  of  bandages  exhibited,  and  the  whole  conclude  with 
an  explanation  of  some  of  the  curious  phenomena  that  arise  from  an  examination 
of  the  gravid  uterus,  and  a  few  plain  general  directions  in  the  study  and  practice 
of  midwifery.  The  necessity  and  public  utility  of  such  a  course  in  this  growing 
country,  and  the  method  to  be  pursued  therein,  will  be  more  particularly  explained 
in  an  Introductory  Lecture,  to  be  delivered  the  16th  instant,  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  at  the  State  House,  by  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  M.D. 

"  The  lectures  will  be  given  at  his  Father's  house  in  Fourth  Street.  Tickets 
for  the  course  to  be  had  of  the  Doctor  at  five  pistoles  each ;  and  any  gentleman 
who  may  incline  to  see  the  subject  prepared  for  the  lectures  and  learn  the  art  of 
dissecting,  injecting,  etc.,  is  to  pay  five  pistoles  more." 

In  February,  1763,  the  following  notice  was  published : — 

"  Dr.  Shippen  having  finished  on  Osteology— the  most  dry,  though  the  most 
necessary  part  of  anatomy — will  admit  gentlemen  who  want  to  gratify  their 
curiosity,  to  any  particular  lecture.    Tickets  five  shillings." 

The  number  of  students  who  attended  these  lectures  was 
ten ;  but  he  Uved  to  address  a  class  of  two  hundred  and  fifty, 
and  to  see  Edinburgh  herself  rivalled,  if  not  surpassed,  by  the 
school  afterwards  founded  in  his  native  city.  The  opening  of 
an  anatomical  room,  as  might  be  expected,  created  much  alarm 

(38) 


among  the  good  citizens  of  the  place.  Mobbing  was  talked 
of,  and  not  a  little  dreaded.  Indeed,  on  several  occasions  the 
house  in  which  the  dissections  were  carried  on  had  its  windows 
broken  bj  the  populace.  In  one  of  these  attacks  the  doctor 
himself  made  a  narrow  escape  by  passing  out  through  an 
alley,  while  his  carriage,  which  stood  before  the  door  with  its 
blinds  raised,  and  which  was  supposed  to  contain  him,  received, 
along  with  a  shower  of  other  missiles,  a  musket  ball  through 
the  centre  of  it.  More  than  once  he  was  obliged  to  desert 
his  own  dwelling  and  conceal  himself,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
tyrannical  exactions  of  the  people.  Several  times  he  addressed 
the  citizens  through  the  pubUc  papers,  assuring  them  that  the 
reports  of  his  disturbing  private  burial-grounds  were  abso- 
lutely false,  and  stating  that  the  subjects  he  dissected  were 
either  of  persons  who  had  committed  suicide,  or  such  as  had 
been  pubUcly  executed;  except,  he  naively  adds,  "now  and 
then  one  from  the  Potter's  Field."  By  his  tact  and  conciliatory 
deportment,  however,  joined  to  the  countenance  given  to  him 
by  some  respected  citizens  and  the  authorities,  the  excitement 
against  him  and  his  occupations  gradually  subsided.* 

*  In  December,  1762,  the  newspapers  inform  us  that  the  body  of  a  negro  who 
had  committed  suicide  by  cutting  his  throat  with  a  glass  bottle,  was,  after  the  ver- 

(39) 


(Butl^  U^isiot^  of  jHebidne  in  |i^il»bdp^l». 

It  was  not  until  the  time  of  Shippen  that  midwifery  was 
generally  practised  by  physicians.  Up  to  his  day,  except 
when  unusual  difficulty  occurred,  it  was  left  principally  in  the 
hands  of  females.  We  learn,  however,  from  Dr.  Cadwalader, 
that  so  early  as  1745,  a  Dr.  Spencer  was  largely  engaged  in 
our  city,  who  had  returned  from  Europe  "recommended  by 
the  famous  Dr.  Mead,  and  several  other  eminent  gentlemen  of 
the  Faculty  of  London,  as  a  most  judicious  and  experienced 
physician  and  man-midwife ;"  and  three  years  subsequently, 
Dr.  Thompson  also  was  practising  in  that  branch.  In  March, 
1762,  Dr.  Shippen  delivered,  in  addition  to  his  anatomical 
lectures,  a  special  course  upon  midwifery,  the  first  ever  given 
in  the  country,  the  original  proposal  for  which,  as  possessing 
much  interest,  I  subjoin. 

diet  of  the  coroner's  jury,  handed  over  by  authority  to  Dr.  Shippen's  anatomical 
theatre.  And  after  that  time  the  bodies  of  several  criminals  and  suicides  were 
similarly  disposed  of;  and  the  following  paragraph,  taken  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette,  shows  that  even  the  authorities  of  the  neighboring  colony  of  Kew  Jersey 
countenanced,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  favor,  the  study  of  anatomy  :  "  Last 
Saturday  a  prisoner  was  executed  at  Gloucester,  Kew  Jersey,  pursuant  to  his 
sentence,  and  his  body  was  sent  by  order  of  the  Chief  Justice  to  Dr.  Shippen's 
anatomical  theatre  for  dissection." 

(40) 


t^e  €arls  l^isitft^  of  MMdm  in  f\ihM^\m. 

"DOCTOK  SHIPPEN,  JUNIOR, 

"  Proposes  to  begin  his  first  course  on  Midwifery  as  soon  as  a  number  of  pupils 
sufficient  to  defray  the  necessary  expense  shall  apply.  A  course  will  consist  of 
about  twenty  lectures,  in  which  he  will  treat  of  that  part  of  anatomy  which  is 
necessary  to  understand  that  branch,  explain  all  cases  in  midwifery — natural, 
difficult,  and  preternatural — and  give  directions  how  to  treat  them  with  safety  to 
the  mother  and  child  ;  describe  the  diseases  incident  to  women  and  children  in 
the  month,  and  direct  to  proper  remedies  ;  will  take  occasion  during  the  course 
to  explain  and  apply  those  curious  anatomical  plates  and  casts  of  the  gravid 
uterus  at  the  Hospital,  and  conclude  the  whole  with  necessary  cautions  against 
the  dangerous  and  cruel  use  of  instruments. 

"In  order  to  make  the  course  more  perfect,  a  convenient  lodging  is  provided 
for  the  accommodation  of  a  few  poor  women,  who  otherwise  might  suffer  for 
want  of  the  common  necessaries  on  these  occasions,  to  be  under  the  care  of  a 
sober,  honest  matron,  well  acquainted  with  lying  in  women,  employed  by  the 
Doctor  for  that  purpose.  Each  pupil  to  attend  two  courses  at  least,  for  which 
he  is  to  pay  five  guineas.    Perpetual  pupils  to  pay  ten  guineas. 

"  The  female  pupils  to  be  taught  privately,  and  assisted  at  any  of  their  private 
labors  when  necessary.  The  Doctor  may  be  spoke  with  at  his  uouse,  in  Front 
Street,  every  morning  between  the  hours  of  six  and  nine ;  or  at  his  office  in 
Letitia  Court  every  evening." 

The  aboye  being  the  first  course  of  lectures  upon  the  sub- 
ject upon  our  contuient,  it  may  be  interesting  to  notice  in 
detail  his  Introductory,  which  I  am  enabled  to  do  Jfrom  very 
full  notes  of  it,  which  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  inspecting. 

6  (41) 


He  commences  by  stating  that,  having  been  called  to  the 
assistance  of  a  number  of  women  in  the  country,  in  difficult 
labors,  "most  of  which  were  made  so  by  the  unskilful  old 
women  about  them,  and  seeing  that  great  suffering  to  the 
mothers,  accompanied  often  with  loss  of  life  to  them,  or  their 
offspring,  have  followed,  which  could  easily  have  been  pre- 
vented by  proper  management,  had  made  him  resolve  to  intro- 
duce a  course  of  lectures  on  that  useful  and  necessary  branch 
of  surgery,  in  order  to  remedy  those  terrible  evils,  and  to 
instruct  those  women  who  have  had  vu-tue  enough  to  own 
their  ignorance  and  apply  for  instruction,  as  well  as  those 
students  who  are  qualifying  themselves  to  practise  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  with  safety  and  advantage  to  their 
fellow-creatures." 

Two  cases  are  then  related  which  had  fallen  under  his 
notice  that  had  been  sadly  mismanaged.  One  of  these  was 
a  natural  labor,  which  was  improperly  interrupted  by  the  use 
of  instniments,  causing  the  death  of  the  mother;  and  the 
other,  which  occurred  near  Gloucester,  'New  Jersey,  was  a 
shoulder  presentation,  in  which  the  hand  had  come  down, 
where  two  midwives  who  were  in  attendance  had  separated 
the    ai-m   "by   knife  and    scissors,"   in   which   he  deUvered 

(42) 


e  (Sntlyi  V)hiov^  of  Alebittne  ttt  ^^ikl^elp^ta:. 

"a  full-grown  infant  bj  the  feet  without  difficulty  in  about 
ten  mmutes." 

"I  have  reason  to  believe,"  says  he,  "that  I  shall  be  able  to 
present  each  of  you  with  one  natural  labor  at  least,  and  have 
provided  a  machine,  by  which  I  can  demonstrate  all  kinds 
of  laborious  and  preternatural  labors,  and  shall  give  every 
necessary  direction  to  enable  you  to  manage  all  cases  with  the 
greatest  safety  to  mother  and  child." 

His  discourse  went  on  to  state  the  order  in  which  the 
lectures  would  be  given,*  and  closed  with  a  brief  notice  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  art,  from  the  earliest  time  down 
to  that  of  his  own  teachers,  the  Hunters  and  McKenzie.  He 
then  points  out  the  qualifications  necessary  in  a  man  midwife 
"to  make  him  an  adept  in  his  profession,  and  to  gain  the  good 
opinion  of  the  female  world,"  recommending  to  this  end  a  full 

*  The  order  of  these  lectures  was  as  follows  :  1.  On  the  Bones  of  the  Pelvis. 
2.  Male  and  Female  Organs.  3.  Changes  in  the  Uterus.  4.  On  the  Placenta. 
5  and  G.  On  the  Circulation  and  Nutrition  of  the  Foetus.  7.  On  the  Signs  of 
Pregnancy.  8.  On  the  Menses.  9.  Fluor  Albus.  10.  On  Natural  Labours.  11 
and  succeeding  ones.  On  Laborious  or  Preternatural  Labours,  with  the  Use  of 
Instruments  ;  and  concluded  by  particular  lectures  On  the  Diseases  of  Women 
and  Children  within  the  month,  and  directions  concerning  the  diet  of  each,  and 
methods  of  choosing  and  making  good  nurses. 

(43) 


knowledge  of  its  duties,  along  with  "  a  grave  deportment  with 

well-timed  conversation,  but  avoiding  religiously  any  jokes  or 

jests  about  the  patient  or  profession,"  and  asking  pardon  of 

his  class  for  the  liberty  he  is  about  taking,  slyly  intimates 

that  the  bad  habit   of  drinking  may  easily  be   contracted 

"  insensibly  by  the  foolish  custom  of  taking  a  dram  in  a  cold 

and  wet  morning."     As  to  your  fees,  he  adds,  "  I  give  you 

only  one  admonition,  which  is,  to  charge  no  one  extravagantly, 

and  every  one  in  proportion  to  their  abilities,  remembering 

that  by  giving  your  services  gratuitously  to  the  poor,  you 

will  get  much  from  the  rich."     On  the  17th  of  September, 

1765,  Dr.  Shippen  was  chosen  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 

Surgery  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  his  anatomical 

lectures,  begun  as  already  stated  in  1762,  were  regularly 

delivered  until  the  fourteenth  course,  which  was  in  the  winter 

of  1775-6,  when  they  were  suspended  by  the  Eevolution.     In 

1770  sundry  maUcious  reports  were  circulated  of  his  having 

taken  up  bodies  from  the  several  burying  grounds,  and  the 

excitement  became  so  great  in  the  community  as  to  make  it 

necessary  for  him  to  come  out  again  in  the  newspapers  with  a 

contradiction  of  it.     This  piece  he  closes  with  the  following 

words  :  "  I  have  persevered  in  teaching  this  difficult  and  most 

(44) 


e  (B^vIq  J^isiatyi  of  i^ebidne  in  ^^tkbdp^m. 

useful  branch  of  medical  knowledge,  though  attended  Tvith 
very  disagreeable  cu'cumstances,  chiefly  from  the  motive  of 
the  pubhc  good,  and  have  and  always  will  preserve  the  utmost 
decency  with  regard  to  the  dead;  and  do  again  solemnly 
protest  that  none  of  your  house  or  Mndred  shall  ever  be  dis- 
turbed in  then-  silent  graves  by  me  or  any  under  my  care." 

In  1775  he  entered  the  American  army,  though  his  lectures 
were  interrupted  by  his  official  duties  only  during  the  winter 
of  1776  and  '77.  In  the  latter  year  he  was  appointed  by 
Congress  to  succeed  Dr.  Morgan  as  Director-General  of  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  army.  Grave  charges  were  pre- 
ferred against  him  for  his  conduct  while  in  this  office,  of  which, 
however,  he  was  acquitted  by  Court-Martial  in  August,  1780, 
and  in  October  of  the  same  year  he  was  re-appointed  to  the 
Directorship.  In  January,  1781,  he  resigned  the  situation, 
and  again  taught  practical  anatomy  in  a  theatre  which  he  had 
erected  at  his  own  expense,  previous  to  his  entering  the  ser- 
vice. For  ten  years  after  quitting  the  aimy,  he  continued  to 
practise  extensively  as  surgeon,  accoucheur,  and  physician. 
Dr.  Shippen  died  at  Germantown  July  11, 1808,  aged  seventy- 
two.  As  a  lecturer,  he  is  described  as  having  been  "  brilUant," 
possessing  a  complete  knowledge  of  his  subject,  a  graceful 

(45) 


person,  polished  manners,  with  a  voice  singularly  sweet  and 
conciliatmg.  He  was  remarkable  for  judgment  in  selecting 
what  was  apphcable  to  elucidating  the  principles  of  his 
subject,  plainness  in  the  mode  of  communicating  his  thoughts, 
and  a  fi-uitful  vem  of  humor,  which  he  occasionally  employed, 
to  awaken  the  attention  of  his  audience  to  the  subject  matter 
m  discussion.  His  descriptive  powers  and  his  fascinatmg 
eloquence  riveted  the  attention  of  his  pupils,  and  impressed 
with  indehble  force  the  lessons  he  inculcated.  Many  of  his 
students,  after  graduation,  visited  Europe,  and  all  such,  says 
"Wistar,  "without  a  single  exception,  agreed  in  declaring  that 
they  saw  no  man  who  was  superior  to  Shippen  as  a  teacher 
of  anatomy,  and  very  few  indeed  that  were  equal  to  him." 

3^0i)n  J^Oir0atl»  deservedly  styled  the  Founder  of 
American  Medicme,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  the  year 
1735.  His  father,  Evan  Morgan,  was  a  native  of  Wales,  who 
emigrated  early  to  this  Province,  where,  till  his  death  in  1763, 
he  was  a  well  known  and  excellent  citizen,  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits.  Dr.  Morgan  was  his  eldest  son,  and  was 
placed  at  an  early  age  at  JSTottingham  School,  Chester  County, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Finley,  a  seminary  which 
at  that  period  had  a  higher  reputation  than  any  other  in  the 

(46) 


e  €ntl^  f)t$tors  of  l^ebidnt  in  |i^il»trtlp^i». 

Middle  Colonies  for  thorough  instruction  in  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages.  He  afterwards  entered  the  College  of 
Philadelphia,  and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1757,  the  first  that 
ever  received  literary  honors  in  that  institution.  In  the  last 
years  of  liis  collegiate  course,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  with  Dr.  Redman,  and  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Dis- 
course upon  the  Institution  of  Medical  Schools  in  America," 
he  gives  an  outline  of  his  life  from  that  period  to  the  time 
of  his  appointment  in  the  College  as  Professor  of  Medicme. 

"  It  is  now  more  than  fifteen  years  since  I  began  the  study 
of  medicine  in  this  city,  which  I  have  prosecuted  ever  since, 
without  interruption.  During  the  first  six  years  I  served  an 
apprenticeship  with  Dr.  John  Redman,  who  then  did,  and 
still  continues  to  enjoy  a  most  justly  acquired  reputation  in 
this  city  for  superior  knowledge  and  extensive  practice  in 
physic.  At  the  same  time  I  had  an  opportunity  of  being 
acquainted  with  the  practice  of  other  eminent  physicians  in 
this  place ;  particularly  of  all  the  physicians  of  the  hospital, 
whose  prescriptions  I  put  up  there  above  the  space  of  one  year. 
The  term  of  my  apprenticeship  being  expired,  I  devoted 
myself  for  four  years  to  a  military  life,  principally  with  a  view 
to  become  more  skilful  in  my  profession,  being  engaged  the 

(47) 


e  (Karlfi  Sistorg  of  WeWdne  in  fj^ilabdp^ia. 

whole  of  that  time  in  a  very  extensive  practice  in  the  army, 
among  diseases  of  every  kind.  The  last  five  years  I  have 
spent  in  Europe,  under  the  most  celebrated  masters  in  every 
branch  of  medicine,  and  have  spared  no  labor  or  expense  to 
store  my  mind  with  an  extensive  acquaintance  in  every 
science  that  related  in  any  way  to  the  duty  of  a  physician, 
having  in  that  time  expended  in  this  pursuit  a  sum  of  money, 
of  which  the  very  interest  would  prove  no  contemptible 
income." 

The  miUtary  life  above  alluded  to  was  spent  with  the  pro- 
vincial troops  of  Pennsylvania  in  their  campaign  during  the 
French  war.  He  entered  the  service  as  lieutenant  and  sur- 
geon, but  it  was  in  the  latter  capacity  alone  that  he  acted, 
and  served  during  the  whole  war.  "So  great,"  says  Dr. 
Rush,  in  his  brief  notice  of  him,  "was  his  diligence  and 
humanity  in  attending  the  sick  and  wounded,  who  were  the 
subjects  of  his  care,  that  I  well  remember  to  have  heard  it 
said,  '  that  if  it  were  possible  for  any  man  to  merit  heaven  by 
his  good  works.  Dr.  Morgan  would  deserve  it,  for  his  faithful 
attendance  upon  his  patients.' " 

It  was  in  the  year  1760  that  he  left  the  army  and  visited 
Europe.     The  friendship  of  Dr.  Franklin,  then  resident  in 

(48) 


London,  as  agent  for  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  intro- 
duced him  to  many  prominent  men,  and  gave  him  the  best 
opportunities  for  improving  himself  under  the  celebrated  med- 
ical teachers  of  that  city.  While  there,  he  devoted  himself 
in  an  especial  manner  to  the  lectures  and  dissections  of  Dr. 
William  Hunter. 

In  November,  1761,  he  removed  to  Edinburgh,  with  the 
view  of  graduating  at  the  school  at  that  place.  A  copy  of  a 
letter  of  introduction  which  he  carried  from  Franklin  to  Lord 
Kames  has  been  preserved,  which  I  am  induced  here  to  insert, 
as  marking  the  esteem  and  affection  in  which  he  was  held 
by  that  eminent  philosopher,  who  had  already  discovered  in 
him  those  germs  of  promise  which  time  and  opportunity 
developed. 

"  May  I  take  the  freedom,"  says  Dr.  F.,  "  of  recommending 
the  bearer,  Mr.  Morgan,  to  your  Lordship's  protection  ?  He 
proposes  residing  some  time  in  Edinburgh,  to  improve  himself 
in  the  study  of  physic,  and  I  think  will  one  day  make  a  good 
figure  in  the  profession,  and  be  of  some  credit  to  the  school 
he  studies  in,  if  great  industry  and  application,  joined  with 
natural  genius  and  sagacity,  afford  any  foundation  for  the 
presage.    He  is  the  son  of  a  friend  and  near  neighbour  of  mine 

7  (49) 


S^e  (Bntlyi  Sistorg  of  fUMtint  in  fl^ihtftfyl^iu, 

in  Philadelphia,  so  that  I  have  known  him  from  a  child,  and 
am  confident  the  same  excellent  dispositions,  good  morals, 
and  prudent  behaviour  that  have  procured  him  the  esteem  and 
affection  of  all  that  knew  him  in  his  own  country,  will  render 
him  not  unworthy  the  regard,  advice,  and  countenance  your 
Lordship  may  be  so  good  as  to  afford  him." 

He  likewise  carried  a  letter  from  Dr.  Franklin  to  CuUen, 
who  received  him  most  kindly.  Towards  this  gentleman, 
with  whom  he  frequently  corresponded  and  consulted  after  his 
retuni  to  Philadelphia,  he  always  felt  and  expressed  a  most 
grateful  remembrance. 

After  fulfilling  the  requirements  prescribed  at  the  then 
famed  medical  school  of  Europe,  and  submitting  his  thesis, 
"  De  Puopoisei,"  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  from  the 
University  in  that  city,  in  1763.  It  was  in  this  thesis  that  the 
doctrine  was  first  announced  of  pus  being  a  true  secretion 
made  by  the  vessels  in  certain  states  of  inflammation ;  in  it, 
after  showing  the  difference  between  his  own  opinion  and  that 
of  his  predecessors,  he  thus  sets  forth  his  views  of  the  sub- 
ject. "  Hoc  mea  speciale  habet,  pus  nempe  neque  in  sanguine 
neque  extra  vasi  generari,  sed  in  ipsis  vasis  inflammatis ;  et 
vasorum  mutationes  ab  inflammatione  inductas,  esse  causas 

(50) 


^^t  (Bntl^  Hk^Biot^  of  fittiUim  in  jp^ilabelp^ta. 

efficientes   quae  "vii'tute   quadam   secretoria,  pus  e  sanguine 
eliciunt."* 

From  Edinburgh,  Dr.  Morgan  proceeded  to  Paris,  where 
he  passed  a  winter  in  the  study  of  Anatomy,  and  while  there 
submitted  to  the  Royal  Academy  of  Surgery  a  memoir  on 
"  Suppuration,"  which  was  well  received,  and  aftei'wards  ex- 
hibited to  the  same  body  a  number  of  preparations  made  by 
injection  and  corrosion.  This  art,  which  he  had  learned  fi'om 
the  Hunters,  was,  he  informs  us,  "allowed  to  be  new  to 
them."  I^one  of  the  members  present,  except  M.  Morand, 
who  had  been  in  England,  and  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hunter, 
having  ever  seen  similar  preparations.     At  their  request  he 

*  That  he  was  the  first  to  announce  this  doctrine  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The 
claim  to  it  has  been  usually  awarded  to  John  Hunter ;  but  Mr.  Curry,  a  teacher 
of  anatomy  of  Guy's  Hospital  in  1817,  after  most  careful  investigation,  has 
adjudged  it  to  Dr.  Morgan,  who,  he  says,  "  discussed  the  question  in  his  Inaugural 
Discourse  with  great  ingenuity,  and  I  can  find  no  proof  that  Hunter  taught,  or 
even  adopted  such  an  opinion  until  a  considerably  later  period."  (Lond.  Med. 
and  Phys.  Journ.,  vol.  xxxviii.,  1817.)  The  various  views  which  have  prevailed 
on  the  origin  and  formation  of  pus  since  that  period,  form  a  curious  study,  and 
now,  after  more  than  a  century,  Cohnheim  (Yirchow's  Archiv,  vol.  xxxviii.) 
has  demonstrated  that  the  white  corpuscles  do  actually  escape  from  the  intact 
vessels,  and  contribute,  to  a  considerable  extent,  to  the  formation  of  pus. 

(51) 


e  €ntl^  ^i$tors  of  jSebidne  In  p^iktrdpl^m. 


afterwards  presented  a  memoir  "On  the  Art  of  making 
Anatomical  Preparations  by  Corrosion,"  which  procured  his 
admission  into  that  Society.  This  memoir,  as  is  customary  in 
most  learned  bodies,  was  referred  to  a  committee  for  examina- 
tion, and  M.  Sue,  the  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Chairman  of 
the  committee,  concludes  a  very  favorable  report  upon  it  in 
these  words : — 

"On  aura  done  toujours  obligation  a  Monsieur  Morgan 
d'avou'  le  premier  divulgee  les  connaissances  qu'il  a  acquises 
sur  cette  matiere,  heureux  fruits  d'un  travail  soutenu,  avec  une 
Constance  et  une  ardeur  sans  egale.  II  ne  me  reste  plus  qu'a 
porter  mon  jugement  sur  le  m^moire  de  Monsieur  Morgan ; 
c'est  pourquoi  persuade  qu'il  ne  pent  etre  que  fort  utile  a 
I'academie,  et  augmenter  ses  richesses  anatomiques ;  je  crois 
qu'elle  doit  accepter  la  d^dicace  que  I'auteur  lui  a  faite  de  son 
ouvrage,  le  remercier,  et  lui  donner  des  marques  de  sa  recon- 
naissance en  lui  accordant  la  place  d' Associe  k  F Academic ; 
place  que  sa  quaUte,  son  merite  personnel,  ses  ouvrages,  et  son 
d^vouement  a  I'Academie  Royale  de  Chirurgie  de  Paris,  sem- 
blent  lui  avoir  acquis  a  juste  titre."* 

*  In  his  "  Anthropotomie,"  M.  Sue  also  acknowledges  that  he  received  from 

Morgan  the  art  of  making  preparations  of  this  sort. 

(52) 


Sr^e  (Saris  l^isiot^  of  fUMcim  in  jl^ikbelp^m. 

After  leaving  Paris  he  travelled  through  Italy,  and  while  at 
Padua,  called  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  celebrated  Morgagni, 
to  whom  he  bore  letters  of  introduction,  and  this  venerable 
physician,  says  Rush,  was  so  pleased  with  the  doctor,  that 
he  claimed  kindred  with  him  from  the  resemblance  of  their 
names,  and  on  the  blank  leaf  of  the  folio  edition  of  his  works, 
which  he  presented  to  him,  inscribed  with  his  own  hand  the 
following  words : — 

"  AflSni  suo,  medico  praeclarissimo,  Johanni  Morgan,  donat  Auctor." 

From  his  MS.  Journal,  which  is  now  before  me,  I  extract 
the  following  interesting  account  of  this  visit.  "  He  received 
me,"  says  Morgan,  "  with  the  greatest  pohteness,  and  showed 
me  abundant  civilities  with  a  very  good  grace.  He  is  now 
eighty-two  years  of  age,  yet  reads  without  spectacles,  and  is 
alert  as  a  man  of  fifty.  From  his  conversation,  openness  of 
behaviour,  and  winning  disposition,  I  never  talked  with  him 
that  I  did  not  think  I  was  with  my  good  Dr.  Cullen.  I  found 
that  he  was  unacquainted  with  anatomical  preparations  made 
by  coiTosion,  and  showed  him  a  piece  of  a  kidney  which  I  had 
injected  at  Paris,  and  which  was  finely  coiToded,  apologizing 
at  the  same  time  for  the  state  it  was  in  from  having  been 

(53) 


brought  so  far.  He  saw  at  once  the  utiUty  of  such  prepara- 
tions, and  broken  as  it  was,  he  was  highly  pleased,  and 
answered  '  ex  ungue  leonem,'  that  he  saw  enough  from  that 
small  specimen  to  convince  him  of  their  excellency.  Ruysch 
when  alive,  he  added,  had  favoured  him  with  some  of  his 
preparations,  but  when  compared  to  this,  they  were  ^rudis 
indigestaques  moles.'  "* 

While  in  England  he  was  made  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  member  of  the  Belles-Lettres  Society  of  Rome,  and 
a  licentiate  of  the  Royal  Colleges  of  Physicians  of  London 
and  of  Edinburgh.  Thus  loaded  with  literary  honors,  he 
returned  to  Philadelphia  in  1765,  to  see,  as  he  expresses  it  in 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Cullen,  "  whether,  after  fourteen  years  devotion 
to  medicine,  I  can  get  my  living  without  turning  apothecary 
or  practising  surgery." 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  proposed  his  plan  for  connecting 
a  Medical  School  with  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  inti- 
mated his  deshe  to  be  appomted  Professor  of  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Physic.     The  project  was  unanimously  approved 

*  For  a  perusal  of  this,  as  well  as  for  various  other  original  letters,  and  papers, 
I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  David  Morgan,  Esq.,  of  Washington,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

(54) 


aE^e  Carls  l^hiov^gi  of  fitbidm  in  f9^ilabdp^la. 

by  the  Trustees,  who  appointed  him  on  the  third  of  May 
following  to  the  office  for  which  he  had  applied,  a  post  which 
he  retained  until  his  decease. 

Up  to  the  period  of  Dr.  Morgan's  settling  in  our  city,  it 
had  been  usual  here,  as  elsewhere  in  America,  for  physicians 
to  practice  in  all  branches  of  medicine,  as  well  as  to  prepare 
and  furnish  their  remedies.  This  plan  he  was  desirous  to 
change,  and  recommended  a  separation  of  pharmacy  and  sur- 
gery from  the  practice,  expressing  his  beUef  that  by  so  doing, 
the  character  of  the  profession  would  be  improved,  and  each 
department  would  be  more  successfully  cultivated.  To  carry 
out  these  views,  he  determined  to  confine  himself  strictly  to 
the  practice  of  physic,  refusing  all  surgical  cases,  and  the  fur- 
nishing of  medicines,  and  sent  his  prescriptions  to  be  made 
up  by  a  gentleman  educated  both  in  Pharmacy  and  Surgery, 
whom  he  had  brought  out  from  England  with  him,  or  if  so 
desired  by  his  patients,  they  were  allowed  to  choose  any  other 
apothecary  or  surgeon  for  the  operative  part. 

In  urging  the  utility  of  separating  the  duties  of  the  physi- 
cian and  apothecary  he  remarks  :  "  The  paying  of  a  physician 
for  attendance  and  the  apothecary  for  his  remedies  apart,  is 
certainly  the  most  eligible  mode  of  practice,  both  to  the 

(55) 


patient  and  practitioner.  The  apothecary  then,  who  is  not 
obhged  to  spend  his  time  in  visiting  patients,  can  afford  to 
make  up  medicines  at  a  reasonable  price ;  and  it  is  as  desirable 
as  just  in  itself  that  patients  should  allow  fees  for  attendance, 
whatever  it  may  be  thought  to  deserve.  They  ought  to 
know  what  it  is  they  really  pay  for  medicines,  and  what  for 
physical  advice  and  attendance. 

"Nobody,  I  believe,  will  deny  that  the  practice  of  rating 
medicines  at  such  a  price  as  to  include  the  charge  for  medicine 
and  attendance  is  liable  to  great  impositions  on  the  part  of 
ignorant  medicasters,  too  many  of  whom  swarm  in  every 
city.  Patients  who  are  kept  in  ignorance  of  what  price  medi- 
cines are  considered  separately,  and  what  is  the  value  of 
physical  skill  and  attendance,  naturally  think  the  original  cost 
of  medicines,  which  are  comparatively  cheap,  to  be  very  dear, 
and  undervalue  the  skill  of  a  physician,  his  toil  of  study,  and 
his  expense  of  time  and  money  in  his  education,  which  have 
often  amounted  to  very  large  sums  and  to  many  years  spent 
abroad  in  quest  of  knowledge,  as  if  they  were  of  no  conside- 
ration. The  levelling  of  all  kinds  of  practitioners  so  much 
with  illiterate  pretenders,  who  have  art  enough  to  gain  employ, 
however  ill  qualified  in  that  of  healing  diseases,  has  a  ten- 

(56) 


dency  to  deter  persons  otherwise  of  just  and  liberal  sentiments 
fi'om  putting  themselves  to  a  further  expense  to  gain  knowl- 
edge, than  what  is  sufficient  to  gain  money.  This  is  to  make 
a  vile  trade  of  physic,  instead  of  a  noble  profession,  which,  as 
it  certainly  is,  so  it  ought  to  be  esteemed." 

The  fee  fixed  upon  by  Dr.  Morgan,  in  his  first  settmg  out 
in  practice,  was  a  pistole  for  the  first  visit,  as  a  retaining  fee, 
and  a  dollar  for  every  visit  afterwards.  He  remarks,  however, 
that  it  was  not  his  intention  to  require  more  than  one  fee  per 
day,  although  he  might  wait  on  the  patient  oftener,  nor  yet 
every  day  that  he  visited  once,  where  a  disease  of  a  lingering 
nature,  or  requiring  particular  care,  would  render  his  attend- 
ance expensive.  "  A  retaining  fee  I  expected  to  receive  from 
the  rich,  not  from  the  poor ;  and  had  firmly  resolved,  in  no 
case,  to  receive  more  fees  than  sufficient  to  pay  me  for  the 
value  of  my  time  and  trouble  of  attendance." 

At  the  date  of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  Dr.  Morgan 
had  attained  nearly  the  middle  period  of  life.  He  was  a  ripe 
scholar,  and  possessed  an  amount  of  professional  learning  and 
experience,  probably  greater  than  any  medical  man  who  had 
previously  been  seen  in  our  Province.  His  reputation  for 
talent  and  learning  had  preceded  him,  and  the  most  extrava- 

8  (57) 


e  (Bntlyi  H^isiox^  of  ^tVtcxnt  in  ^Ijllatrelp^m. 

gant  expectations  were  formed  of  his  healing  powers  among 
the  people  of  his  native  city.  "  A  venerable  gentleman  who 
knew  him  afterwards  very  intimately,  says  the  author  of  an 
able  review  of  his  Discourse,  told  me  that  when  he  was  first 
pointed  out  to  liim  in  the  street,  he  considered  it  as  a  high 
privilege  to  say  '  I  have  seen  him.' "  This  eclat,  added  to  his 
graceful  and  polished  manners,  procured  him  at  once  an  intro- 
duction into  the  best  practice,  and  he  acquired  a  large  share 
of  business ;  but  the  efforts  he  made  to  separate  the  practice 
from  the  pharmaceutical  parts  of  the  profession  gave  great 
offence.  Still  he  persevered  in  them,  and,  as  he  infonns  us, 
received  fees  in  cash,  agreeably  to  the  custom  of  the  London 
physicians.  His  early  teachers  and  contemporaries,  the 
Bonds,  Redman,  Cadwalader,  and  Shippen,  would  not  fall 
into  his  views,  and  it  was  not  until  some  years  afterwards  that 
they  were  generally  adopted.  This  took  place  on  the  arrival 
of  Dr.  Chovet,  a  veiy  popular  physician,  who  came  here  from 
the  "West  Indies  in  1774.  Bringing  no  medicines  with  him, 
and  being  soon  engaged  in  practice,  he  sent  his  prescriptions 
to  a  di-uggist.  Dr.  John  Jones,  afterwards  in  1780,  also  took 
up  his  residence  in  our  city  and  pursued  a  like  course,  and 
finding  it  to  answer  well,  he  never  took  a  shop.     As  the 

(58) 


e  (Sarlg  l^istorg  of  MtVtcint  in  fl^ikbelp^m. 

doctor  came  rapidly  into  esteem,  he  still  further  popularized 
the  course  which  had  been  begun  by  Morgan ;  and  the  other 
physicians,  by  this  time  seeing  the  manifest  advantages 
enjoyed  by  these  gentlemen,  soon  fell  into  the  same  practice. 

"  Had  Dr.  Morgan  succeeded  in  his  design  of  introducing 
with  the  present  usages  of  practice  his  plan  of  receiving  fees  in 
hand,  thereby  obviating  the  necessity  of  book  charges,  which, 
he  observes,  is  never  done  in  any  liberal  profession,  he  would 
have  left,  says  the  reviewer  previously  quoted,*  an  heirship  of 
the  highest  value  to  his  successors ;  valuable,  not  merely  in 
regard  to  its  pecuniary  features,  but  as  aboHshing  the  means, 
and  the  incitement  to  a  great  many  acts,  which  always,  and 
inevitably  tend  to  depress  the  profession  far  below  its  intrin- 
sic dignity,  and  relative  importance  to  other  professions  and 
callings." 

Morgan's  zeal  was  not  confined  to  medicine  alone.  In 
other  pursuits  he  was  equally  persevering  and  indefatigable, 
and  much  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  the  improvement  of  the 
liberal  arts  and  sciences.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  foun- 
dation of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and  in  1772, 

*  North  American  Med.  and  Surg.  Journ.,  vol.  iv.    Philadelphia,  1827. 

(59) 


S^e  (Earls  J^istorg  of  ^ttfUint  in  p^ilatrdp^ia. 

when  a  project  was  started  to  institute  a  collection  in  the 
British  West  India  Islands,  in  order  to  raise  additional  funds 
for  the  advancement  of  general  literature  in  the  College,  after 
having  received  the  necessary  authority  from  the  Trustees,  he 
undertook  a  voyage  at  his  own  expense  for  that  purpose,  and 
fi'om  his  exertions  an  amount  equal  to  two  thousand  pounds 
sterlmg  was  received. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Dr. 
Morgan  espoused  warmly  the  cause  of  his  country,  and  in  the 
month  of  October,  1775,  after  the  removal  of  Dr.  Church,  in 
consequence  of  traitorous  correspondence  with  the  enemy,  he 
was  appointed  by  Congress  Du-ector-General  to  the  Military 
Hospitals,  and  Physician-in-Chief  to  the  American  Anny, 
and  immediately  joined  Washington  at  Cambridge.  Here 
he  found  the  hospital  and  army  without  medicines  and  appli- 
ances, and  serious  dissensions  existing  between  the  officers  of 
his  department. 

He  at  once  proceeded  to  reorganize  a  general  hospital,  and 
established  rules  for  the  discharge  of  the  various  duties  of  its 
officers,  requirmg  proofs  by  examination  of  the  quaUfications 
of  the  assistants  who  were  to  be  entrusted  with  the  lives  of 
the  sick  and  wounded  soldiery.     This  requirement  gave  rise 

(CO) 


e  (Earlg  J^istorg  of  MtbUim  in  ^^ilabelp^m. 


to  much  dissatisfaction,  and  five  of  the  surgeon's  mates  who 
refused  to  submit  to  it  were  dismissed  from  the  service.  By 
his  energy  and  industry  an  ample  collection  of  both  medicines 
and  stores  was  made  for  the  General  Hospital.  His  system 
was  economically  and  prudently  arranged;  disputes  and 
contentions  were  repressed ;  and  his  personal  supervision  of, 
and  attention  to  the  sick,  was  never  wanting. 

The  economy,  regularity,  and  order  which  he  earned  into 
the  department  committed  to  his  care,  together  with  his 
opposition  to,  and  refonn  of  abuses  that  were  creeping  or 
had  crept  into  it,  raised  up  to  him  an  enmity  among  some, 
at  the  same  time  that  others,  through  malignancy  or  envy, 
misrepresented  his  actions,  and  seized  hold  of  every  occasion 
that  times  of  confusion  and  public  calamity  presented,  to 
sully  and  asperse  his  character. 

To  understand  the  ground  of  these  complaints  and  mis- 
representations, it  is  necessary  to  cast  a  glance  at  the 
organization  of  the  department  of  which  he  was  the  head, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  revolutionary  struggle. 

The  hospital  department  was  established  by  act  of  Con- 
gress on  the  27th  of  July,  1775,  on  a  plan  reported  by  a 
committee  of  three  of  that  body  who  had  previously  been 

(61) 


^\^t  (Bntl^  J^istors  of  Mtbicim  tit  |9^tlabelp^m. 

appointed  to  prepare  it.*  Upon  its  organization  by  Dr. 
Church,  the  fii-st  Director-General,  disputes  arose  between 
him  and  a  number  of  regimental  surgeons  concerning  their 
duties ;  the  latter  claiming  the  right  of  having  hospitals 
allowed  them,  of  retaining  the  sick  of  their  respective 
battalions  under  their  own  care,  and  of  drawing  what  stores 
they  thought  proper  from  the  General  Hospital;  while  the 
Director,  agreeably  to  the  designs  of  Congress,  required  them 
to  send  the  sick  to  the  General  Hospital,  where  they  could  be 
well  accommodated  and  provided  for,  and  dechned  furnishing 
anything  except  medicmes  and  mstruments  to  the  battalions. 
The  misunderstandings  and  disputes  thus  arising  in  Dr. 
Church's  time  were  carried  so  far  as  to  give  rise  to  courts  of 
inquiry,  and  regimental  hospitals  were  bi'oken  up  wherever 
their  surgeons  attempted  to  open  them.  These  difficulties 
between  the  two  classes  of  medical  officers  were  aggravated 
by  some  of  the  officers  of  the  army,  who,  ignorant  as  they 
were  of  the  nature  and  purposes  of  the  General  Hospital, 
justified  the  regimental  surgeons  in  their  attempts  to  establish 
themselves  in  their  claims.  The  abuses  practised  by  these 
latter  in  their  exorbitant  drafts  from,  and  demands  upon  the 

*  Vide  Appendix  I. 
(G2) 


^\t  (Sntlyi  K^tstors  of  Ulebidne  in  jp^ilabelpl^ia;. 

General  Hospital  were  much  talked  of  previous  to  Dr. 
Morgan's  appointment,  and  it  had  been  his  first  care  to  look 
into  and  correct  them. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  it  must  be  remembered, 
along  with  some  of  liberal  manners  and  education,  and  of  the 
best  abilities,  a  number  of  unlettered  and  very  incompetent 
medical  officers  found  their  way  into  the  army.  Many  of 
those  first  commissioned  were  never  educated  to  the  profes- 
sion, and  were  to  the  last  degree  ignorant,  factious,  and  tur- 
bulent, averse  to  all  subordination  and  order,  and,  as  is  stated 
by  the  highest  authority,  that  of  "Washington,  "  a  disgrace  to 
the  profession,  the  army,  and  to  society."* 

*  The  regimental  surgeons  and  mates,  many  of  whom  are  designated  by- 
Washington,  whose  judgment  and  discretion  will  not  be  questioned  by  any,  as 
"  very  great  rascals,"  were  dissatisfied  also  at  having  the  officers  of  the  General 
Hospital  take  equal  rank  with  themselves.  There  is,  adds  "Washington,  a  "  con- 
stant bickering  among  them,  which  tends  greatly  to  the  injury  of  the  sick,  and 
will  always  subsist  until  the  regimental  surgeons  are  made  to  look  to  the  Direc- 
tor-General of  the  Hospital  as  a  superior."  (Letter  to  the  Pres.  of  Congress, 
Sept.  24th,  1776.     Sparks's  Life,  vol.  iv.  p.  116.) 

"  They  are  aiming,  I  am  persuaded,  to  break  up  the  General  Hospital  and 
have  in  numberless  instances,  drawn  for  medicinal  stores  in  the  most  profuse 
and  extravagant  manner  for  private  purposes."    (Ibid.) 

(63) 


t  €arls  1|i$t0rs  of  fitbkim  in  p\ilnbtl^\in. 


Among  some  of  these  dissatisfaction  with  and  enmity  to 
the  new  Director-General  arose,  in  the  first  instance,  from  his 
requiring  proofs  of  capacity  by  examination,  and  by  his  re- 
form of  hospital  abuses,  and  soon  acquired  additional  vigor 
from  his  inflexible  resolution  of  being  faithful  to  his  trust, 
and  not  suffering  the  stores  and  instruments  collected  for 
the  General  Hospital  to  be  dissipated  among  the  various  regi- 

Gordon  in  his  History  of  the  War  asserts,  that  some  of  the  regimental  surgeons 
made  a  practice  of  selling  recommendations  to  furloughs  and  discharges,  and 
states  that  one  of  them  proved  to  have  done  it  was  drummed  out  of  the  army.* 
In  another  place  he  adds,  "  several  of  the  regimental  surgeons  had  no  professional 
abilities,  and  had  never  seen  an  operation  of  surgery,  and  were  ignorant  to  a 
degree  scarcely  to  be  imagined."     (Vol.  ii.  p.  115,  K.  Y.,  1801.) 

At  Cambridge  one  regimental  surgeon  drew  upon  the  General  Hospital  "  for 
above  100  gallons  of  rum,  with  wine  and  sugar  in  proportion,  in  the  space  of 
six  weeks,  and  from  this  regiment  there  was  no  return  of  sick  made."  (Ibid, 
p.  42.) 

"  Some  of  them  in  time  of  need  deserted  the  army  altogether,  and  others 
shunned  to  attend  the  regiments  to  the  field  of  battle."    (Ibid.  p.  104.) 

"  At  the  action  of  White  Plains  few  of  the  regimental  surgeons  were  with  their 
respective  battalions,  in  consequence  of  which  many  of  the  wounded  bled  to 
death."     (Ibid.  p.  105.) 


*  A  surgeon  at  Harlem  was  drummed  out  of  his  regiment  "for  selling  soldiers 
certificates  that  they  were  unfit  for  duty."  (Diary  of  Kevolution,  vol.  i.  p.  315.) 

(64) 


e  (Eatlg  %isi0t]s  of  j^elrinnt  in  |i^ilabtlp^m. 

mental  surgeons.  This  latter  course  he  pui'sued  in  obedience 
to  the  resolve  of  Congress  of  July  12,  1776,  as  well  as  by 
repeated  directions  from  the  Commander-in-Cliief,  in  order  to 
oblige  the  regimental  surgeons  to  send  their  sick  to  the  Gene- 
ral Hospital,  and  to  look  for  such  suppHes  as  they  might  need 
fi-om  the  proper  officers — the  Continental  di'uggists. 

The  necessity  for  this  resolve,  to  correct  the  abuses  prac- 
tised in  di*awing  for  all  sorts  of  expensive  stores,  may  be 
judged  of  from  the  fact  that  the  Commissary-General  com- 
plained that  "  it  requhed  a  greater  sum  of  money  to  answer 
their  demands  than  was  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
all  the  well  men  m  the  army."  This  measm*e,  though  deemed 
by  Congress,  after  investigation,  absolutely  necessary,  pro- 
duced almost  universal  discontent  among  the  regimental  sur- 
geons, who,  in  consequence  of  it,  poured  forth  denunciations 
both  loud  and  bitter  against  the  chief  of  the  hospital  depart- 
ment. On  the  9th  of  October  of  the  same  year,  a  further 
resolve  of  Congress  reiterated  "that  no  regimental  hospital 
should  be  allowed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  General  Hos- 
pital," a  measm-e  which  had  become  imperative  from  the  fact 
of  the  sick  being  retained  in  their  regiments,  without  even 
reporting  them  to  the  Director.     This  gave  rise  to  additional 

9  (65) 


(Earig  J|ist0rB  of  MMctm  in  f^l^ilatrelp^ia:. 

ill  feeling,  and  the  odium  of  the  measure  was  again  visited 
upon  him. 

Having  had  some  years'  experience  in  the  English  military 
hospitals  during  the  French  war,  accustomed  as  he  had  been 
to  strict  discipline,  and  aware  of  its  beneficial  efiects,  Dr. 
Morgan  enforced  it  in  carrying  out  these  several  orders,  at 
the  same  time  that  he  corrected  minor,  though  hardly  less 
flagrant  abuses.  But  though  able,  faithful,  and  indefatigable 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  yet  all  his  exertions  proved  in- 
effectual. Strict  order  and  economy  in  the  medical  as  in  other 
departments  of  the  army  at  that  day  seem  to  have  been  im- 
practicable. The  difficulty  of  supplying  the  hospitals  was  as 
great  as  that  of  providing  the  soldiers  with  arms,  and  the 
stores  and  assistants  that  could  be  furnished  by  the  committee 
of  Congress  proved  insufficient  for  the  increased  demands 
made  upon  him.  Medicines  became  daily  more  and  more 
scarce ;  bandages,  lint,  tow,  even  the  most  common  articles, 
such  as  rags,  old  linen,  thread,  pins,  etc.,  were  not  to  be  pro- 
cured in  sufficient  quantity.  "We  find  him  at  this  period 
writing  to  Rush  and  Gerry,  at  that  time  two  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  medical  committee,  acquamting 
them  with  the  wants  of  the  sick,  and  urging  them  to  direct 

(66) 


®lje  €arlj)  l^tstcrji  of  MMcint  in  p^ilabdp^m. 

the  attention  of  Congress  to  this  matter  as  a  serious  subject, 
stating  that  he  must  "  not  be  blamed  for  the  impossibility  of 
collecting  them,"  and  predicting,  too  truly,  those  calamities 
to  the  army,  if  not  furnished  with  them,  which  afterwards  ap- 
peared and  swept  thousands  to  then*  graves.  Fresh  discontent 
now  showed  itself,  and  unjust  complaints  from  this  cause,  as 
well  as  from  those  before  mentioned,  again  arose,  in  which 
enemies,  whom  he  afterwards  proved  to  have  been  guilty  of 
fraud  and  peculation,  joined.  These  complaints  at  last  reached 
the  halls  of  Congress,  and  were  there  Hstened  to  by  some, 
though  no  charge  was  made  of  his  neglect  of  duty,  want  of 
capacity,  inattention,  or  any  breach  of  the  resolves  of  Con- 
gress or  of  general  orders. 

At  about  this  juncture  he  was  directed  by  Congress  to 
provide  and  superintend  a  hospital  at  a  proper  distance  from 
the  camp,  for  the  army  posted  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's 
River,  while  the  director  of  the  flying  camp,  which  had  been 
formed  for  the  protection  of  ^ew  Jersey,  was  ordered  to  pro- 
vide and  superintend  a  similar  one  for  the  men  on  the  west 
side  of  that  river,  and  to  report,  not  through  the  Director- 
General  as  had  been  previously  ordered  by  a  resolve  of  July 
17th,  but  to  the  Congress  itself.     At  this,  Dr.  Morgan  took 

(67) 


umbrage,  looking  iipon  himself  as  degraded  from  the  rank  of 
Director-General  and  Physician-in-Chief  to  that  of  Director 
only,  and  took  the  liberty  to  write  to  the  President  of  Con- 
gress, stating  "  that  he  hoped  there  would  be  no  unnecessary 
abridgment  of  rank  and  authority  in  his  person  that  was 
necessary  for  the  head  of  the  department,  and  was  consistent 
with  real  usefulness,  to  which  every  other  consideration 
should  give  way."  He  nevertheless  obeyed  the  order  of  Con- 
gress, looking  upon  it  as  a  matter  for  present  convenience. 

In  the  northern  department  of  the  army,  to  which  Dr. 
Stringer  had  been  appointed  by  Congress  Chief  Physician 
and  Surgeon,  independent  of  Dr.  Morgan  as  Director-General, 
the  sufferings  of  the  sick  at  this  time  were  great.  In  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  a  member  of  the  Medical  Committee 
of  Congress  at  this  date.  Dr.  Morgan  describes  the  state  of  the 
army  there  (derived  from  a  medical  officer  who  had  just  left 
it),  as  "  truly  deplorable  and  scarcely  credible."  "  From  all  I 
am  able  to  learn,"  he  adds,  "everything  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment in  Canada  displays  one  scene  of  confusion  and  anarchy ; 
nor  has  the  Congress  taken  upon  itself,  or  vested  any  person 
with  a  power  sufficient  to  establish  a  general  hospital  there. 
I  am  not  sure  that  our  disgrace  and  misfortunes  in  Canada  are 

(68) 


not  owing,  in  gi^eat  measure,  to  the  shameful  proceedings  of 
the  surgeons  in  spreading  the  smallpox  by  inoculation  among 
the  soldiery  in  face  of  the  enemy."* 

A  clergyman,  a  witness  to  their  sufferings,  forwarded  a 
letter  to  General  Washington  at  this  time,  describing  the  state 
of  the  sick  at  the  lakes,  in  which  he  says,  "  Men  of  considera- 
tion do  not  hesitate  to  speak  freely  of  first-rate  characters  as 
the  authors  of  these  calamities,  some  blaming  the  Congress, 
some  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  Army,  and  some  the  Direc- 
tor of  the  JSTorthern  Department."  That  Dr.  Morgan  was  in 
no  way  accountable  for  the  mismanagement  of  the  IS^orthem 
Department  and  wants  of  the  sick,  there  is  abundant  evidence 
to  prove.  He  had  long  before  acquainted  Congress  with  their 
situation,  and  prayed  for  relief  for  them  in  vain,  and  although 
without  authority  in  that  department,  had  sent,  at  the  earnest 
request  of  its  Director,  all  he  could  spare  from  his  own  stores, 
as  well  as  officers  to  assist  them. 

Having,  by  direction  of  General  "Washington,  put  the  hos- 

*  This  was  done  without  fitting  up  an  hospital  in  some  retired  spot  for  the 
reception  of  the  inoculated  only,  and  guarding  it,  in  order  to  cut  off  all  communi- 
cation between  the  hospital  and  the  troops,  as  had  been  pursued  under  like  cir- 
cumstances before  Boston  in  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

(69) 


e  (Bntl^s  l^i&iot^  of  jSeMttne  in  jii^ilatrelp^la;. 

pital  affairs  in  proper  train  at  ISTewark  and  Hackensack,  he 
left  Drs.  Foster  and  Warren  in  charge,  and  after  taking  the 
necessary  steps  for  providing  for  the  sick  at  ^orth  Castle  and 
Peekskill,  he  proceeded  to  join  the  Commander-in-Chief  and 
the  army  at  White  Plains.  From  thence  he  followed  to  the 
Jerseys,  and  reached  headquarters  just  before  the  affair  at 
Trenton.  Here  he  immediately  reported  to  the  General,  and 
mformed  him  that  by  his  commission,  as  well  as  from  former 
ordei'S  received  from  the  Secretary  of  Congress,  "  the  depart- 
ment at  headquarters  was  under  his  immediate  direction,"  and 
that  his  duties  required  by  the  last  resolve  of  Congress  having 
been  fulfilled,  he  had  hastened  to  an  attendance  upon  him 
without  waiting  for  his  commands,  at  the  same  time  respect- 
fully stating  that  unless  his  rank  and  place  were  acknowledged 
and  restored  to  him,  he  should  feel  himself  obliged  to  give  up 
his  charge.  Washington  assured  him  that  the  difficulties  of 
which  he  complained  were  in  no  way  owing  to  him.  "  I  am 
here,"  said  the  latter,  "  without  any  assistance  from  the  Hos- 
pital Department,  and  in  case  of  need  I  know  of  nobody  to 
take  the  direction.  It  is  very  strange,  and  I  would  have  you 
lay  the  matter  before  Congress,  in  order  to  have  a  remedy  for 

this  irregularity  and  inconvenience."     In  pursuance  of  this 

(70) 


®^e  (Karig  J^istorg  of  iHebidne  in  p^ilabHp^ia. 

advice,  and  by  the  General's  pennission,  he  afterwards  waited 
upon  that  body  in  Philadelphia  for  an  explanation  of  the 
resolves,  and  for  further  instructions.  Upon  presenting  him- 
self, Mr.  Samuel  Adams  was  deputed  to  receive  him,  and 
gave  him  to  understand  that  complaints  had  been  brought 
against  him,  and  that  the  suffeiings  of  the  sick  in  Jersey,  a 
department  which  Congress  had,  as  has  been  just  shown, 
placed  under  the  sole  control  of  another  Director,  were 
ascribed  to  him,  with  circumstances  greatly  reflecting  on  his 
humanity.  These  injurious  charges  Morgan  indignantly 
denied,  and  entreated  to  be  immediately  introduced  to  the 
body  in  order  to  vindicate  himself  from  them,  and  have  his 
conduct  tested  by  the  strictest  scrutiny.  This,  however,  was 
refused  him,  that  assembly  being  fully  employed  in  urgent 
matters,  a  step  which  at  this  day  will  be  the  more  readily 
pardoned,  when  we  recollect  the  critical  and  alarming  state  of 
the  country  at  that  time ;  when,  in  fact,  it  seemed  doubtful 
whether  the  recently  assumed  independence  of  the  States  could 
much  longer  be  maintained. 

Immediately  after  the  interview  with  Mr.  Adams,  Congress 
was  forced  to  retire  to  Maryland,  and  there  he  repeated  his 
application  through  the  same  gentleman  by  letter,  to  which  he 

(71) 


never  received  a  reply.  Resignation  was  intimated  to  him,  by 
some,  as  the  best  means  of  quieting  the  clamours  against 
him,  and  freeing  himself  fi'om  further  trouble  in  the  burden- 
some duties  of  the  service,  but  this  he  spumed.  The  dark 
clouds  which  hung  over  the  political  horizon  threatened  the 
total  destruction  of  our  cause,  and  it  was,  in  his  opinion,  no 
time  for  a  retreat.  He  determined  to  stand  by  it  during  the 
then  dangerous  period,  and  prove  by  his  actions  the  falsity  of 
the  charges  made  against  him,  and  when  that  had  passed, 
insist  on  an  immediate  hearing,  or  resign. 

Accordingly,  he  a  second  time  repaired  to  headquarters, 
but  by  a  resolve  of  Congress  received  there,  he  was  again 
directed  to  take  charge  of  the  sick  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Hudson.  This  order  he  obeyed,  and  pursued  his  business  as 
though  he  had  no  cause  of  complaint,  hoping  for  redress  as 
soon  as  Congress  should  find  leisure,  and  be  in  a  situation  to 
attend  to  it.  He  hastily  prepared,  however,  and  on  February 
1st,  1777,  addressed  a  "  Memorial"  to  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
in  which  he  set  forth  his  manner  of  conducting  the  depart- 
ment of  the  General  Hospital,  and  his  actions  fi'om  the  time 
of  his  appointment,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  a  Court  of 
Inquiry  respecting  his  conduct ;  but  on  the  very  day  after  its 

(72) 


®%e  €arlg  f^hiot^  of  MMcim  in  ^^tlabtlp^ia. 

reception  by  Washington,  orders  from  Congress  were  received 
for  his  dismission,  without  assigning  any  reason  for  it,  and 
without  his  having  been  made  acquainted  with  his  supposed 
offences,  or  granting  an  opportimity  for  the  truth  or  falsity  of 
them  to  be  examined. 

Upon  his  dismissal,  the  officers  of  the  General  Hospital, 
among  whom  were  John  Warren,  WiUiam  Eustis,  Philip 
Turner,  and  Isaac  Ledyard,*  names  among  the  best  known 
and  brightest  in  the  medical  corps  of  the  time,  considering 
themselves  in  honour  obhged  to  certify  facts  of  which  they 
were  acquainted,  respecting  the  conduct  and  management  of 
the  late  Director-General  of  the  American  army,  and  Physi- 
cian-in- Chief,  joined  in  presenting  a  testimonial  to  Dr.  Morgan, 
of  which  the  following  is  an  abstract : — 

"  That  the  Director-General  was  ever  attentive  to  any  calls 
made  upon  him  for  the  supply  of  the  hospital,  and  for  pro- 
curing comfortable  accommodation,  provision,  necessaries, 
and  refreshment  for  the  sick.     That  in  particular  instances,  on 

*  The  other  surgeons  of  the  General  Hospital,  Drs.  Foster,  Adams,  McKnight, 
and  Burnet,  were  on  detached  service  at  a  distance  at  the  time  ;  but  Dr.  Morgan 
states  that  he  is  sure,  if  called  on,  they  would  testify  to  the  same  faithful  dis- 
charge of  his  duty. 

10  ( 73 ) 


e  (Esrlg  J^hiotyi  of  i&Mcim  in  |9^il»belp^i». 

the  breaking  up  of  regimental  hospitals,  and  routing  of  the 
sick  by  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  the  sick  being  poured 
upon  his  care  in  vast  numbers,  without  either  surgeon,  mate, 
quartermaster,  or  any  one  officer  to  accompany  them.  Dr. 
Morgan  having  but  little  assistance  for  such  sudden  increase 
of  numbers,  went  from  house  to  house  to  procure  quarters 
for  them,  and  provision  for  their  support,  instructing  the 
country  people  in  what  manner  to  take  charge  of  them,  even 
to  seeing  them  provide  their  meals  for  present  refreshment, 
and  take  care  for  their  future  sustenance.  That  he  visited 
hospitals,  going  through  each  ward  in  person,  to  see  that  the 
sick  were  duly  attended  and  provided  for.  That  he  consulted 
with  the  surgeons,  and  gave  his  assistance  whenever  there 
was  occasion,  and  showed  a  readiness  to  remove  any  difficulty 
that  offered  to  the  utmost  of  his  power.  That  he  performed 
capital  operations  himself  when  present,  or  assisted  the  sur- 
geons therein,  and  stooped  to  do  the  duties  of  a  mere  mate 
in  dressing  the  most  simple  as  well  as  the  most  dangerous 
wounds  of  the  soldiers  in  the  General  Hospital,  as  an  example 
and  encouragement  to  the  officers  under  him  to  attend  care- 
fully to  that  duty.  That  if  the  sick  have  at  any  time  suffered 
more  than  usual,  it  has  been  from  unavoidable  accidents  not 

(74) 


e  Carls  Jlistorg  of  fSitttitxnt  in  jp^ilatrelp^k. 

in  his  power  to  remedy.  That  there  were  no  complaints  of 
the  sick  suffering  in  the  General  Hospital  under  their  care, 
but  that  the  uneasiness  that  arose  was  concerning  the  care 
and  provision  of  those  who  were  retained  in  their  regiments, 
and  not  reported  to  the  General  Hospital.  That  they  have 
been  witnesses  to  his  constant  application  and  attention  to 
the  duties  of  his  station,  in  which  his  diligence,  assiduity, 
care  of,  and  humanity  towards  the  sick  and  wounded  were 
abundantly  evident.  That  the  principal  causes  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  sick  the  last  campaign,  proceeded  from  the  regi- 
mental sick  not  being  properly  reported  to  the  General  Hos- 
pital, and  in  some  instances  to  the  unavoidable  scarcity  of 
particular  medicines  and  other  stores,  which  could  not  be 
procured  at  all  times  in  sufficient  quantities,  and  not,  so  far 
as  ever  came  under  their  notice,  to  any  want  of  care  and 
attention  in  the  Director-General,  but  principally  fi'om  the 
repeated  movements  of  the  army,  which  exposed  the  sick  and 
wounded  to  sufferings  that  could  in  no  way  be  remedied,  and 
are  firmly  of  opinion  that  no  person  whatever  acting  in  the 
capacity  of  Director-General  under  the  same  circumstances, 
could  possibly  have  given  universal  satisfaction." 

The  complaints   against  the  Du'ector-General,  as   before 

(75) 


intimated,  arose  from  his  rigid  enforcement  of  the  resolves  of 
Congress  "  that  no  stores  should  be  issued  from  the  General 
Hospital  to  the  regimental  surgeons,"  and  that  "  no  regimental 
hospital  should  be  allowed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  general 
one,"  and  his  hasty  dismission  was  owing  to  charges  made 
to  Congress  in  regard  to  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  in  Canada 
and  Jersey,  the  direction  of  which  had  been  taken  by  their 
own  resolves  entirely  from  his  control.  That  the  sick  suffered 
elsewhere,  and  that  there  was  a  real  want  of  many  of  the 
material  requisites  for  their  rehef  even  in  the  hospitals  under 
his  own  eye,  he  or  no  other  denied.  It  was  indeed  unavoid- 
able.* A  proper  hospital  estabhshment  was  beyond  the 
abiUties  of  the  country.  The  army,  too,  was  a  young  one, 
of  which  the  militia  formed  a  considerable  part,  was  unused 
to  discipline,  and  exposed  to  great  hardships  from  a  deficiency 
of  proper  clothing  and  stores  of  all  kinds,  articles  also  out  of 
the  power  of  Congress  to  furnish.  Besides  this,  they  were 
an  unsuccessful  and  retreating  army,  soured  by  disappoint- 
ments and  reverses.  Officers,  as  well  as  soldiers,  Jnanifested 
a  reluctance  to  submit  to  the  necessary  disciphne  of  camps, 

*  Vide  Appendix  II. 
(76) 


e  (Karlg  '^isiat^  of  f^tUdnt  in  J^^ilabelp^ia, 

and  no  head  of  the  department  whatever,  under  the  same 
circumstances,  could  have  given  universal  satisfaction.* 

From  the  time  of  his  entrance  into  the  Hospital  Depart- 
ment, Dr.  Morgan  devoted  every  hour,  and  sacrificed  every 
private  interest  to  relieve  the  sick,  and  correct  abuses.  He 
was  not  justly  chargeable  with  any  neglect,  and  discharged 
his  duties  faithfully  and  well.  Congress,  however,  was  forced 
from  the  pressing  situation  of  affairs  and  the  misrepresenta- 
tions and  complaints  circulated  against  him,  excited  in  great 
measure  it  is  beUeved  by  the  contrivances  of  his  enemies,  to 
give  way  to  the  storm,  and  removed  him  unheard,  to  quiet  the 
clamours  of  a  strong  political  party. 

*  The  sufferings  of  the  troops  in  ISTew  Jersey  from  camp  fever  were  very  great. 
Dr.  Kush  informs  us,  that  of  those  brought  to  Philadelphia  in  open  wagons,  many 
perished  from  hunger  and  exposure,  and  that  a  thousand  or  more  died  and  were 
buried  in  our  Potter's  Field.  In  the  Northern  army,  it  is  stated,  that  five  thou- 
sand men  had  suffered  from  smallpox,  between  the  1st  of  April  and  8th  of  August, 
at  which  latter  date  a  General  Order  was  issued  prohibiting  inoculation  ;  but  by 
Pebruary,  1777,  the  disease  had  made  such  head  in  every  quarter,  that  Washing- 
ton found  it  "  impossible  to  keep  it  from  spreading  through  the  whole  army  in 
the  natural  way,"  and  therefore  "determined  not  only  to  inoculate  all  the  troops 
of  his  command,  but  also  all  recruits  as  fast  as  they  came  to  Philadelphia." 
(Sparks's  Life,  vol.  ii.) 

(77) 


e  (Sntl^  l^istors  of  fUtbidnt  in  p^ilabdp^is. 

Thus  calumniated  and  condemned  for  the  faithful  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  office,  Dr.  Morgan  felt  keenly  the  indig- 
nities to  which  he  had  heen  subjected,  but  was  supported  in 
his  trials  by  that  consciousness  of  integrity  and  right  con- 
duct which  alone  can,  under  such  circumstances,  give  solace. 
I^ot withstanding  the  injustice  which  had  been  done  him,  he 
at  this  time  thus  wrote  to  a  fiiend  concerning  his  dismissal : 
"It  is  an  act  into  which  they  were  suddenly  forced  by  a  party 
whom  political  necessity  obUged  them  to  gratify.  But  such 
is  my  opinion  of  the  integrity,  and  such  my  reliance  on  the 
honour  of  Congress,  as  to  believe  that  when  they  are  fm*nished 
with  the  materials  for  judging  properly,  they  will  be  as  ready 
to  do  me  justice,  as  a  part  of  them  have  been  to  listen  to  the 
maUce  and  misrepresentations  of  my  adversaries,  and  to  show 
their  magnanimity,  by  allowing  that  they  have  been  capable  of 
an  error  by  their  readiness  to  redress  it.  I  have  endeavoured 
to  discharge  my  duty  in  what  I  undertook  fi'om  principle, 
according  to  my  degree  of  knowledge  and  capacity,  with 
fidelity  and  diligence ;  and  what  I  value  more  than  knowledge 
or  capacity  alone,  with  humanity ;  fi-om  whence  results  the 
approbation  of  a  good  conscience  which  as  my  enemies,  with 
all  their  power  cannot  give,  so  neither  can  they  take  away." 

(78) 


e  (Earls  llidtarg  ^  MthUint  in  ^]^i(»belp^k. 

He  continued  ardent  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  which  he  had 
among  the  foremost  eagerly  embraced,  but  would  not  rest 
under  the  base  imputations  cast  upon  his  honour,  and  formal- 
ly demanded  of  Congress  a  Court  of  Inquiry  concerning  his 
whole  conduct  while  Dkector-General  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment, and  this,  though  urged  on  with  remarkable  energy  and 
perseverance,  was  from  time  to  time  postponed. 

At  the  present  day  it  may  seem  strange  that  so  just  and 
reasonable  a  request  should  long  have  been  denied  him,  but  it 
will  not  be  so  considered  when  we  recall  the  then  existing  state 
of  affairs,  and  the  press  of  other  more  urgent  matters  upon 
Congress. 

The  country  was  in  the  extremest  peril,  and  that  body  exer- 
cising, as  it  did  during  the  whole  course  of  the  war,  not  only 
legislative,  but  also  executive  and  judicial  powers,  was  over- 
burdened with  affairs  of  more  consequence  than  the  hearing 
of  complaints,  however  just.  All  bxisiness  coming  before  it 
was  performed  by  committees,  and  from  this  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding, wise  and  patriotic  though  they  were,  yet  action  on 
important  measures  was  often  dilatory,  and  it  may  have  been 
at  times  even  affected  by  the  prejudices  or  private  resentments 
of  some  of  those  forming  them. 

(79) 


Sl^e  (Sarlg  ll^isiot^  of  i&thicint  in  ^^ilntttlpkm. 

The  Medical  Committee  of  that  period  was  composed, 
among  others,  of  Gerry,  and  Samuel  and  John  Adams ;  men 
among  the  most  active  of  the  body  on  other  committees,  and 
time  and  opportunity  was  reaUy  wanting  to  them  to  examine 
into  such  details  as  would  be  necessary  for  a  proper  judgment.* 
Thus  Morgan,  though  believed  by  all  who  knew  him,  as  well 
as  by  popular  opinion,  and  the  Commander-in-Chief,  to  have 
discharged  his  high  trust  with  integrity,  energy,  and  marked 
ability,  was  yet  doomed  to  be  put  aside  for  some  more  conve- 
nient season.f 

*  "  The  whole  Congress  is  taken  up  almost  in  different  committees,  from  seven 
to  ten  in  the  morning.  From  ten  to  four,  or  sometimes  five,  we  are  in  Congress, 
and  from  six  to  ten  in  committees  again.  I  don't  mention  this  to  make  you 
think  me  a  man  of  importance,  because  it  is  not  I  alone,  but  the  whole  Congress 
is  thus  employed."     (Letter  of  John  Adams  to  his  wife,  vol.  i.  p.  77, 1841.) 

During  Mr.  Adams's  term  of  service  in  Congress,  he  was  a  member  of  ninety, 
and  chairman  of  twenty-five  committees. 

t  Washington,  in  his  letter  to  Morgan  of  January  6th,  1779,  gives  the  most 
ample  testimony  of  his  having  discharged  his  duty  with  diligence  and  fidelity,  say- 
ing, "No  fault,  I  believe,  was  or  ever  could  be  found  with  the  economy  of  the 
hospitals  during  your  directorship  ;"  and,  moreover,  two  of  the  prominent  actors 
in  the  Medical  Department  of  this  period,  who  have  left  records  on  this  matter, 
are  of  this  opinion.  One  of  these,  the  venerable  Dr.  Thacher,  asserts  that  the 
clamours  raised  against  Morgan  were  unjust,  and  that  no  opportunity  was 

(80) 


More  than  two  years  elapsed  before  a  hearing  could  be 
obtamed,  but  justice,  though  slow,  at  last  came.  Congress 
found  tune  to  give  ear  to  his  request,  and  Messrs.  Drayton  of 
South  Carolina,  Harvey  of  North  Carolina,  and  Witherspoon 
of  New  Jersey,  were  appointed  a  committee  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  mto  his  conduct  in  the  public  service,  and 
tracing  out  the  true  causes  of  the  sufferings  of  the  sick  in 
the  army  dm*ing  the  campaign  of  1776,  and  the  complaints 
they  produced. 

Upon  the  appointment  of  this  committee,  he  published 
a  card  in  the  newspapers  of  the  different  States,  inviting 
and  challenging  "every  person  who  had  anything  to  allege 
against  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  pubUc  trust  as  Director- 
General  and  Physician-m-Chief  to  appear  before  the  above- 
named  gentlemen  with  evidence  in  support  of  their  charges, 
that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  meeting  them  face  to 
face  to  answer  their  accusations."  * 

afforded  him  to  vindicate  himself  from  them ;  and  Dr.  Kush,  who  occupied  the 

post  of  Physician  and  Surgeon-General  of  the  Middle  Department,  besides  being  a 

member  of  Congress,  and  aware  of  all  the  proceedings,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Bond  of 

the  date  of  February  1st,  1778,  says  :  "In  order  to  avoid  the  fate  of  Dr.  Morgan, 

as  well  as  to  gratify  my  own  inclinations,  I  have  sent  in  my  own  resignation." 

*  Vide  Appendix  III. 

11  (81) 


f  be  CFarlo  Sistoro  of  Mthitxnt  in  pHIatrtlpbw. 

The  committee  made  a  full  mvestigation  of  his  conduct, 
which  resulted  in  an  honourable  acquittal  of  the  whole  of  the 
charges  made  against  him.  and  their  report,  after  being  before 
the  House  near  three  months,  "  for  the  perusal  and  satisfac- 
tion of  the  members,  with  the  evidence  upon  which  it  was 
founded,"  received  from  Congress  their  official  sanction,  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  following  proceedings  : — 

"Es  COXGEESS,  JusE  12th,  1779. 

"  CcK^ress  took  into  consideration  the  report  of  the  committee  to  whom  was 
referred  the  Memorial  of  Dr.  John  Morgan,  late  Director-Greneral  and  Physician- 
in-Chief  in  the  General  Hospitals  of  the  United  States,  and  thereupon  came  the 
following  resolution  : — 

'•  Whereo-s,  by  the  report  of  the  Medical  Committee  confirmed  by  Congress  on 
the  9tii  of  August,  1777,  it  appears  that  Dr.  John  Morgan,  late  Director-General, 
and  Chief  Physician  of  the  General  Hospitals  of  the  United  States,  had  been 
removed  from  office  on  the  9th  of  January,  1777,  by  reason  of  the  general  com- 
plaint of  persons  of  all  ranks  in  the  army,  and  the  critical  state  of  affairs  at  that 
time ;  and  that  the  said  Dr.  John  Morgan,  requesting  inquiry  into  his  conduct,  it 
was  ihcraght  proper  that  a  Committee  of  Congress  should  be  appointed  for  that 
purpose. 

"  A.nd  tt^j^recw,  on  the  18th  of  September  last,  such  a  committee  was  appointed, 
before  whom  the  said  Dr.  John  Morgan  hath,  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner, 
Tiodicated  his  conduct  in  every  respect  as  Director-General  and  Fhysician-in- 
Chief,  upon  the  testimony  of  the  Commander-in-Chief^  General  Officers,  officers 

(82) 


ffibe  Cads  tjiBiax^  of  Mtbicim  in  ^bilab^f^m. 

ia  the  General  Hospital  Department,  and  other  officers  in  the  army,  showing 
that  the  said  Director-General  did  conduct  himself  ably  and  faithfully  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office  ;  Therefore, 

'■^  Eesolved,  That  Congress  are  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  Dr.  John  Morgan, 
while  acting  Director-General  and  Physician-in-Chief  in  the  General  Hospitals  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  this  resolution  be  published. 

"  Extract  from  the  Miuutes. 

"CHAELES  THOMSONS',  Seceztaet." 

To  the  inquirer  of  the  present  day,  it  appears  probable  that 
the  difficulties  which  Dr.  Morgan  had  to  contend  with  in  his 
department,  arose  primaidly  from  the  fact,  that  in  the  then 
state  of  the  Colonies  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  adequate 
subsistence,  shelter,  supphes,  or  transportation  for  the  sick 
and  wounded  of  the  annj,  and  were  inci-eased  by  the  imper- 
fect system  of  organization  for  the  Medical  Department  which 
was  adopted  by  Congress.  With  such  a  fiiulty  system,  it 
was  of  com-se  impossible  to  cany  out  any  plan  for  the  proper 
treatment  of  the  sick  and  wounded ;  and  it  appears  from  dis- 
putes between  himself  and  other  medical  officers,  concerning 
rank  and  precedence,  that  his  office  as  Dnector-General  and 
Chief  Physician  was  far  from  giying  him  that  degree  of  au- 
thority requisite  to  a  successfril  administration  of  the  afiaus 

(S3) 


(garlg  Ristors  of  ftleMntte  in  fl^ilabelp^ia. 

of  his  department.  Dr.  Morgan  justly  held  that  a  due  respect 
to  rank  was  necessary  and  proper ;  and  we  find  in  a  letter  fi'om 
Dr.  Brown,  a  prominent  hospital  director,  that  his  scrupulous 
adherence  to  a  supposed  dignity  of  office  gave  much  offence 
to  some  of  the  Congress,  as  well  as  to  his  brother  officers  of 
the  profession.  In  fact,  in  the  early  part  of  the  war  the  ad- 
justment of  rank  was  a  great  difficulty  in  the  army,  and  there 
were  perpetual  disputes  concerning  it  among  all  classes  and 
grades.  In  the  medical  corps,  sub-directors  and  surgeons 
were  appointed  by  Congress  for  different  districts,  and  the 
not  unfi-equent  removal  of  these  officers  from  one  district  to 
another  by  order  of  Congress,  was  productive  of  interference 
of  authority,  and  jealousies  and  disputes,  very  injm*ious  to 
the  service ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Dr.  Morgan,  though 
undoubtedly  at  times  treated  mth  marked  want  of  respect  by 
some,  yet  made  more  complaint  to  the  Medical  Committee  of 
Congress  in  regard  to  it  than  the  latter  considered  mere  mat- 
ters of  etiquette  required,  amid  the  heavy  trials  the  country 
was  then  passing  through.  This  inference  is  much  strength- 
ened, I  think,  by  the  following  passage  in  a  private  letter  to 
him  from  Charles  Thomson : — 

"  There  is  no  man.  Sir,"  says  the  truthful  Secretary,  "  ac- 

(84) 


quainted  with  you  who  can  doubt  your  abilities.  All  the 
world  bears  witness  of  them,  and  the  learned  in  Europe,  who 
must  be  allowed  to  be  the  best  judges,  have  given  ample  tes- 
timony by  the  honours  they  have  heaped  upon  you.  While 
you  exercise  your  great  talents  for  the  benefit  of  those 
entrusted  to  your  care,  your  country  will  honour  you,  and 

posterity  will  do  you  justice ;  even  though  Dr.  S ,  when 

you  chance  to  meet,  should  refuse  to  give  you  precedence." 
In  another  private  letter  to  him,  the  Secretary  says,  "  As  to 
rank  and  precedence,  and  all  that  nonsense,  there  is  nothing 
in  the  Journals  to  establish  it." 

His  unjust  dismissal  from  the  post  of  Director-General 
doomed  him  to  temporary  disesteem,  and  this,  to  a  man  like 
Morgan,  highly  educated  and  possessed  of  great  sensibility  of 
character,  prostrated  him,  and  from  its  benumbing  influence 
he  never  fully  recovered.  After  the  publication  of  his  "  Vin- 
dication" and  subsequent  honourable  acquittal  by  the  Congress 
of  all  of  the  charges  which  had  been  brought  against  him,  he 
withdrew  in  a  great  measure  from  the  public  eye,  and  passed 
his  days  mostly  in  retirement  and  study,  which  a  still  suffi- 
cient, though  shattered  estate,  allowed  him  happily  the  means 
of  indulging  in.     He  continued,  however,  his  services  to  the 

(85) 


@E^e  €arl^  l^btorg  of  lUebmne  in  jp^ikbelp^k. 

Pennsylvania  Hosi^ital,  with  which  he  had  been  long  con- 
nected as  physician,  until  1783,  when  he  resigned,  as  men- 
tioned in  its  records,  "  to  the  grief  of  the  patients,  and  mnch 
against  the  will  of  the  Managers,  who  all  bore  testimony  to 
his  abilities,  and  great  usefulness  to  the  institution."*     His 

*  The  immediate  cause  of  his  retiring  from  the  Hospital  is  a  little  curious.  A 
custom  prevailed  in  the  last  century  of  sending  syphilitic  patients  from  the  Alms- 
house to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  for  treatment,  as  it  was  then  deemed  neces- 
sary to  subject  them  to  a  mercurial  course  carried  to  salivation,  and  the 
accommodations  for  the  purpose  were  better  at  the  latter  than  at  the  former 
institution.  In  addition  to  the  expenses  of  board  and  nursing,  a  fee  was  always 
charged  against  the  Almshouse  by  the  physician  under  whose  care  the  case  was 
treated.  There  is  a  record  on  their  minutes  of  two  guineas  having  been  paid  to 
Dr.  John  Morgan.  Afterwards,  the  Managers  complained  to  the  Hospital  of  the 
charges  made  to  them  by  Dr.  Morgan  of  seventy  shillings  for  curing  each  venereal 
patient.  The  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Hospital  inform  us  that 
"the  doctor  admitted  the  charge,  and  refused  to  relinquish  it  for  persons  of 
that  description,  thinking  it  sufficient  to  attend  all  other  cases  gratis ;  but  the 
Board  resolved  that  there  should  be  no  such  charge  made  to  the  Overseers  of  the 
Poor,  on  which  the  doctor  resigned  his  place."  As  stated,  this  took  place  in  1783, 
and  the  records  of  the  institution  mention  that  "  The  committee  appointed  to 
return  the  thanks  of  the  Board  of  Managers  to  Dr.  Morgan  for  his  services  to  the 
Hospital,  report  that  they  have  thanked  him,  and  that  the  doctor  very  politely 
answered  '  He  was  always  ready  on  any  extraordinary  emergencies  to  render  the 
institution  any  further  services  in  his  power.'  " 

(86) 


S^e  €»rls  History  of  Mthidnt  in  p^ilabelp^i^. 

heiilth  gradually  gave  way,  so  much  so  at  last  as  to  induce 
him  to  spend  a  winter  in  the  Southern  States,  from  whence  he 
returned  but  little  benefited. 

Of  the  particulars  of  Dr.  Morgan's  life  for  the  two  or  three 
years  immediately  preceding  his  decease,  I  have  been  unable 
to  learn  much,  though  I  have  had  in  my  possession  abundant 
evidence  to  show,  that  in  his  latter  days  he  was  resigned  and 
hopeful,  looking  forward  to  another  world  for  that  peace 
which  had  been  refused  him  here.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother, 
at  Princeton,  a  few  months  before  his  decease,  which  with 
many  others  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  examining,  he  writes, 
"  Wearied  with  this  world,  I  have  for  some  time  past  turned 
my  mind  more  than  ordinarily  to  the  thoughts  of  a  better, 
where  I  wish  to  go,  but  with  resignation  to  the  superior  will 
of  Him  who  has  the  right  to  appoint  the  day  and  hour."  He 
died  in  the  city  of  his  birth,  October  15th,  1789,  in  the  54th 
year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  the  ground  attached  to  St. 
Peter's  Church.  In  the  records  of  the  day,  there  is  a  bare 
mention  of  his  death  and  age,  and  no  stone  remains  at  the 
present  time  to  point  out  his  last  resting-place.  So  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  ascertain,  the  only  notice  of  him  is  to  be 
found  in  the  short  but  grateful  tribute  which  Rush,  his  Mend 

(87) 


ai^e  (Karlg  J|lstors  of  Webidne  in  ^^ilabelp^ia. 

and  successor  in  the  Chair  of  the  University,  paid  his  ser- 
vices, and  the  brief  mention  of  him  furnished  by  Thacher, 
mostly  drawn  from  it. 

His  wife,  Mary,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Thomas  Hopldn- 
son,  Esq.,  to  whom  he  was  mamed  on  his  return  from 
Europe  in  1765,  preceded  hun  to  the  tomb,  having  died  m 
1785.  She  was  a  sprightly,  agreeable  woman,  and  they  Uved 
most  happily  together.  He  left  no  issue,  and  his  property, 
which  was  considerable,  he  bequeathed  to  his  brother.  Col. 
Morgan,  whose  descendants  now  reside  in  the  city  of  Pitts- 
burgh. In  person.  Dr.  Morgan  was  under  the  medium  height, 
was  delicately  made,  with  an  expressive  and  handsome  face. 
He  was  pohte  and  gentlemanly  in  his  manners  and  address, 
but  prolix  in  conversation. 

A  fine  collection  of  paintings  and  engi-avings  which  he  had 
made  in  Europe,  together  with  a  choice  and  valuable  library, 
and  his  manuscripts,  the  labour  of  ten  years,  were  all  either 
destroyed  by  the  enemy  at  Bordentown,  'New  Jersey,  whither 
he  had  removed  them  from  Philadelphia  for  safety,  or  were 
consumed  by  fire  at  Danbury,  Comiecticut,  in  the  destruction 
of  that  place  by  the  troops  under  Governor  Tryon. 

His  literary  productions,  besides  his  Thesis  and  his  Dis- 

(88) 


t^t  €»rl9  %isiot^  of  ^Mcint  in  fl^ihMpkm. 

course  upon  the  "Introduction  of  Medical  Schools  in 
America,"  published  in  1765,  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion 
again  to  revert,  were,  "A  Recommendation  of  Inoculation 
according  to  Baron  Dimsdale's  Method,"  printed  in  1776,  and 
a  work  written  some  years  prior  to  the  Revolution  upon 
"  The  Reciprocal  Advantages  of  a  Perpetual  Union  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  American  Colonies."  In  1777  he  pub- 
lished "  A  Yindication  of  his  Public  Character  in  the  Station 
of  Director-General  of  the  Military  Hospitals."  In  addition 
to  these,  he  contributed  to  the  Transactions  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  for  1786,  "An  Account  of  a  Pye  Negro 
Girl  and  Mulatto  Boy ;"  an  article  "  On  the  Art  of  Making 
Anatomical  Preparations  by  Corrosion,"  an  abstract  from  the 
essay  presented  by  him  to  the  French  Academy  of  Surgery ; 
and  an  interesting  paper  "  On  a  Snake  in  a  Horse's  Eye,  and 
of  other  Unnatural  Productions  of  Animals." 

The  life  of  Morgan  affords  a  bright  example  of  acquire- 
ment, perseverance,  usefulness,  and  a  noble  love  and  devotion 
to  the  profession  of  his  choice.  The  title  of  founder  of 
Public  Medical  Instruction  in  America  justly  belongs  to 
him,  yet  no  memorial  exists  to  recall  his  great  services  to  his 
profession  and  his  Alma  Mater.     His  very  name  is  almost 

12  .  (89) 


©fee  Of  arig  JJislors  of  Mthkint  in  f^ihUl^^m. 

forgotten  by  the  mass  of  the  brotherhood ;  and  even  here,  m 
the  city  of  his  birth  and  labours,  how  few  are  there  who  are 
aware  of  the  benefits  he  has  conferred  upon  us !     The  school 
originated  by  hun   still   flourishes,   receiving,  as  he  himself 
foretold,  "a   constant   accession   of  strength,   and   annually 
exertmg  new  vigour,  and  has  given  birth  to  numerous  other 
useful  institutions  of  a  similar  kind,  spreading  the  Hght  of 
medical  knowledge  through  the  whole  American  continent."* 
His  Discourse  on  the  "  Institution  of  Medical  Schools  in 
America"  is,  considering  the  state  of  medicine  at  the  time  it 
was  written,  a  remarkable  production,  and  should  be  repub- 
hshed  and   circulated   as   an  act   of  justice  to  his  memory. 
Although  the  science  has  advanced  unmeasurably  since  that 
day,  his  enlarged  views  of  what  is  required  of  a  medical  prac- 
titioner by  preliminary  education,  his  high-toned  sentiments 

*  The  above  was  written  in  1846,  Since  that  time  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Morgan  has 
been  placed  in  the  museum  of  the  University.  It  is  a  copy  from  a  fine  painting 
in  my  possession,  after  the  original  by  Angelica  Kauffman.  Writing  in  1827,  the 
late  Dr.  Meigs  eloquently  and  justly  says  :  "  He  who  in  Greece  or  Eorae  would 
have  had  statues  of  brass  and  marble  voted  to  his  memory  has  in  the  one-third 
part  of  a  century  gone  out  of  remembrance  so  completely  that  of  the  many  of  the 
hundreds  who  partake  of  the  benefits  of  his  school,  very  few  have  ever  heard  of 
his  name." 

(90) 


t  <£»rls  History  of  fAttticint  in  ^\ihM^\\B. 


regarding  its  practice,  honours,  and  emoluments,  his  recom- 
mendations of  cUnical  teaching  and  hospital  instruction,  his 
recital  of  the  years  of  labour  spent  by  him  in  preparation  for 
its  active  duties,  in  addition  to  its  historical  value,  all  make 
this  now  very  rare  tract  worthy  of  such  attention. 

In  the  year  1774  a  foreign  physician  took  up  his  residence 
among  us  who,  besides  becoming  distinguished  as  a  prac- 
titioner, laboured  zealously  in  teaching  practical  anatomy, 
and  is  deserving  of  honourable  mention  from  having  aided 
materially  in  its  progress. 

I  allude  to  Ut*  ^f^VUl^UVX  ^f|Otiet^  He  was  a  native  of 
England,  and  had  devoted  much  of  the  early  part  of  his  life 
to  the  study  of  anatomy  under  the  ablest  teachers  of  Europe, 
and  Hved  first  at  Barbadoes,  and  afterwards  in  the  Island  of 
Jamaica,  from  whence  he  came  to  this  place.  A  well-known 
antiquarian  has  thus  described  him  from  recollection,  as  he 
appeared  a  few  years  previous  to  his  decease.  "This  aged 
physician  was  almost  daily  to  be  seen  pushing  his  way,  in 
spite  of  his  feebleness,  in  a  kind  of  hasty  walk  or  rather 
shuffle,  his  head  and  straight  white  hair  bowed  and  hanging 
forward  beyond  the  cape  of  his  black  old-fashioned  coat, 
mounted  by  a   small   cocked   hat,   closely   turned  upwards 

(91) 


t  (Sntl^  l^tsiat^  of  MMcint  in  pi^lkbdpl^is. 

upon  the  crown  behind,  but  projectingly  and  out  of  all  pro- 
portion cocked  before,  and  seemingly  the  impelling  cause  of 
his  anxious  forward  movements ;  his  lips,  closely  compressed 
(sans  teeth)  together,  were  in  constant  motion,  as  though 
he  were  munching  something  all  the  time ;  his  golden-headed 
Indian  cane,  not  used  for  his  supj)ort,  but  dangling  by  a 
black  silken  string  from  his  wi'ist ;  the  ferule  of  his  cane  and 
the  heels  of  his  capacious  shoes,  well  lined  in  winter  time 
with  thick  woolen  cloth,  might  be  heard  jingling  and  scrap- 
ing the  pavement  at  every  step;  he  seemed  on  the  street 
always  as  one  hastening  as  fast  as  his  aged  limbs  would  per- 
mit him  to  some  patient  dangerously  ill,  without  looking  at 
any  one  passing  him  to  the  right  or  left." 

The  doctor  was  an  eccentric  character,  full  of  anecdote  and 
knowledge ;  and,  tradition  informs  us,  possessed  of  great  sar- 
castic wit.  He  was  much  in  the  habit  of  using  certain 
expletives  in  his  ordinary  conversation,  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  those  who  best  knew  and  appreciated  him,  were  thought 
to  be  neither  useful  nor  ornamental.  An  anecdote,  strikingly 
illustrative  of  these  points  of  his  character,  has  been  men- 
tioned to  me  as  being  well  known  to  those  of  former  days. 
The  doctor  happened  to  be  overtaken  at  the  house  of  a  mem- 

(92) 


I^e  €»rls  f&istors  of  i^ebinne  in  f^^ilabelp^ia;. 

ber  of  the  Society  of  Friends  by  a  heavy  shower  of  rain,  and 
as  he  insisted  on  pursuing  his  way  during  its  continuance,  the 
fi-iend  kindly  offered  to  loan  him  his  overcoat,  adding  the  con- 
dition that  he  was  not  to  use  hard  words  while  it  was  upon 
his  back,  to  which  the  latter  assented.  On  returning  the  coat 
he  was  asked,  "Well,  doctor,  didst  thou  swear  whilst  thou 
hadst  on  my  coat  ?"  "  ]S'o,"  replied  he,  "  but  there  was  a  dam- 
nable disposition  to  lie."  The  doctor  was  a  well-known 
Tory,  and  from  his  advanced  years,  and  his  being  EngUsh 
born,  no  offence  was  taken  at  his  expressing  his  political 
opinions  freely,  which  he  did  on  all  occasions,  and  never  lost 
an  opportunity  of  joking  and  quizzing  his  friends,  of  whom 
he  had  numbers  of  the  opposite  party.  On  one  occasion, 
being  sent  for  to  visit  the  Spanish  Minister,  M.  Mirailles,  the 
ambassador  ordered  his  carriage  to  convey  him  home;  the 
doctor  full  of  fun,  and  dehghted  at  the  opportunity  for  a 
laugh  which  it  afforded  him,  directed  the  coachman  to  drive 
slowly  by  the  Coffee  House,  it  being  an  hour  when  he  knew 
the  merchants  would  be  all  congregated  there.  The  equipage 
of  the  Don,  as  Minister  from  a  friendly  power,  was,  at  that 
time  of  high  poUtical  excitement,  well  known,  and  when  per- 
ceived to  be  advancing,  the  merchants  drew  up  in  order,  hats 

(93) 


off,  to  pay  their  respects  to  him.  The  doctor  kept  himself 
close  back  in  the  carriage  until  directly  opposite  the  building, 
the  gentlemen  all  politely  bowing,  when  he  suddenly  popped 
out  his  head,  with  "  Good  morning,  gentlemen,  good  morn- 
ing, I  hope  you  are  all  well ;  thank  you  in  the  name  of  his 
Majesty  King  George,"  and  drove  off,  laughing  heartily  at 
having  quizzed  the  Philadelphia  Whigs.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war,  however,  he  was  looked  on  as  a  "  dangerous 
man,"  and  only  escaped  being  carted  through  our  streets  along 
with  Dr.  Kearsley  by  secreting  himself  in  the  stable  of  Mr. 
Marshall,  and  in  May,  1777,  was  forced  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  Congress. 

Dr.  Chovet  brought  with  him  to  Philadelphia  a  complete 
and  beautiful  collection  of  anatomical  preparations  in  wax, 
which  he  had  made  in  Barbadoes  in  1744,  and  gave  courses  of 
anatomical  and  physiological  lectures.  The  introductory  to 
his  first  course  in  November,  1774,  was  delivered  in  great 
form,  being  attended  by  Governor  Thomas  Penn,  Ritten- 
house,  Dickinson,  the  clergy,  physicians,  and  other  of  the 
most  influential  men  of  the  city.  It  consisted  of  a  Latin 
oration  on  the  origin  and  dignity  of  physic,  and  was  followed 
by  a  learned  discourse  in  English  on  the  history  and  progress 

(94) 


e  (Earlg  l^istors  of  fiMcint  in  ^^ikbelp^m. 

of  the  sciences  of  anatomy  and  physiology.  These  lectures 
were  illustrated  by  his  wax  models,  together  with  diied  pre- 
parations and  injections,  and  were  given  at  a  hall  in  Yidell's 
Alley,  Second  Street.  The  building  still  stands  upon  the 
south  side  of  the  alley.  It  is  a  quaint-looking  old-fashioned 
two-storied  brick  house,  with  a  steep  pitched  roof  and  dormer 
windows ;  it  is  now  used  as  a  carpenter  shop.  In  this  locality 
his  lectures  continued  to  be  given,  and  his  anatomical  collec- 
tion remained  until  1777,  when  the  latter  was  removed  to  his 
dwelling  in  Water  Street,  near  the  old  ferry.  Here  he  erected 
an  amphitheatre  in  which  his  lectures  were  afterwards  deUv- 
ered,  the  first  being  given  there  ui  January,  1778.  John 
Adams,  in  his  Diary  (Works,  vol.  ii.),  speaks  of  his  visiting 
the  museum  of  Dr.  Chovet,  when  in  Philadelphia,  and  re- 
cords that  his  cabinet  was  much  "  more  exquisite  than  that 
of  Dr.  Shippen  at  the  Hospital."  The  doctor,  he  added,  reads 
lectures  for  two  half  joes  a  course,  which  takes  up  four 
months.  Dr.  Chovet  died  March  24th,  1790,  aged  eighty-six, 
and  was  interred  at  Christ  Church.  He  visited  his  patients 
in  all  weathers  on  foot  until  withui  a  few  weeks  of  his  death ; 
his  faculties  having  exhibited  no  marks  of  decay,  and  finally 
being  carried  off  by  some  acute  disease.     We  are  told  by 

(95) 


Dr.  Rush  that  he  was  so  sensitive  to  cold,  that  he  slept  "  in 
a  large  night-gown,  under  eight  blankets  and  a  coverlet,  in  a 
stove  room,  for  many  years  before  he  died."  He  applied  his 
wit  to  his  years,  and  used  to  say  that  "  that  physician  was  an 
impostor  who  did  not  hve  until  he  was  eighty."  He  made  it 
his  dying  request,  that  he  might  have  a  plain  funeral,  and  that 
no  bell  might  be  tolled  on  the  occasion,  as  he  did  not  wish  to 
disturb  sick  people  by  such  unnecessary  noise.  His  daughter, 
who  died  in  1813,  bequeathed  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  a 
portrait  of  her  father,  painted  by  Pine,  which  now  hangs  in 
that  building ;  his  anatomical  cabinet  having  been  previously 
purchased  of  her  by  that  mstitution  for  an  annuity  of  £30, 
payable  out  of  the  medical  fund.  Dr.  Coste,  the  chief 
medical  officer  of  Rochambeau's  army,  in  a  tract  which  he 
published  at  Leyden,  in  1784,  speaks  of  Chovet  as  "  a  man 
skilled  in  all  things  pertaining  to  medicine,  and  especially 
in  anatomy  and  surgery ;"  and  the  Marquis  de  Chastellux,* 
who  was  on  intimate  terms  with  Dr.  Chovet  when  in  this 
country  in  1780,  says  that  "  many  of  his  wax  preparations 
were  equal  to  those  of  Bologna."     This  traveller  thus  speaks 

*  Travels  in  North  America,  vol.  i.  p.  233.    London,  1787. 
(96) 


a^e  (Earls  Jlistarji  of  iHcbidwe  in  p^ilabdp^ia. 

of  the  doctor  himself:  "He  is  a  perfect  original.  A  man  of 
application,  and  of  great  natural  vivacity ;  his  reigning  taste 
is  disputation.  "Wlien  the  English  were  at  Philadelphia  he 
was  a  AYhig,  but  before  and  since  they  left  a  Tory.  He  is 
always  sighing  after  Europe  without  resolving  to  return,  and 
declaiming  against  the  Americans  he  stOl  remains  among 
them.  His  design  in  coming  to  the  continent  was  to  recover 
his  health,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  cross  the  seas ;  this  was 
at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  and  since  that  time  he  imag*- 
mes  he  is  not  at  liberty  to  go,  though  nobody  prevents  him." 
Another  physician  of  note  who,  towards  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  made  Philadelphia  his  residence,  was  3^0)|ll 
3^On09S»  Dr.  Jones  was  a  native  of  Long  Island,  and  after 
completing  his  medical  studies  in  Philadelphia,  improved  him- 
self still  further  by  a  visit  to  Europe,  and,  upon  his  return, 
settled  in  ;N"ew  York,  devoting  himself  particularly  to  the 
practice  of  surgery.  He  was  the  first  to  perform  the  opera- 
tion of  lithotomy  in  that  city,  and  his  success  was  such  in 
several  cases  which  soon  presented  themselves  to  him  that 
he  became  well  known  as  an  operator  throughout  the  Middle 
and  Eastern  States.  Upon  the  foundation  of  the  ^ew  York 
Medical  School,  he  was   appointed  to  the  professorship  of 

13  (97) 


t  Carlg  History  0f  l^ebidne  in  p^il»trelp^ia. 

surgery.  At  the  commencement  of  our  Avar,  he  published 
his  "Plain  Remarks  upon  Wounds  and  Fractures,"  a  work 
intended  principally  as  a  guide  to  young  surgeons  of  our 
army  in  the  classes  of  accidents  to  which  their  attention  then 
was  continually  directed.  This  book,  which  embodies  the 
sentiments  of  the  best  surgeons  of  the  period  on  the  subjects 
treated  of,  with  the  result  of  the  author's  own  observations, 
contains  much  valuable  matter,  and  is  well  put  together.  It 
passed  through  three  editions.  The  first  was  published  in 
!N'ew  York  in  1775;  and  the  two  latter  at  Philadelphia  in 
1776  and  1795.  He  removed  to  Philadelphia  in  1779,  and 
was  in  the  following  year  elected  one  of  the  surgeons  to  our 
hospital ;  and  upon  the  foundation  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians, in  which  he  took  a  prominent  part,  was  made  one  of 
its  Vice-Presidents.     He  died  in  1791,  aged  sixty-two. 

Though  not  professional  men,  yet  as  well  on  account  of 
their  devotion  to  the  kindred  sciences  of  botany  and  natural 
history,  as  from  having  aided  the  progress  of  medicine  in 
Pennsylvania,  it  would  be  improper  in  any  sketch  such  as 
this  to  pass  over  altogether  in  silence  the  names  of  James 


Logan  and  John  Bartram. 


(98) 


e  (Sntlja  ^btorg  of  iSebidne  In  |i^ikbelp^i». 

S^VHtU  iLO00(tf  was  a  man  of  learning  and  strong  abilities, 
who  assisted  materially  in  encouraging  medical  science  among 
us,  as  well  by  the  formation  of  a  library  rich  in  the  most  valu- 
able and  rare  works  relating  to  it  and  kindred  subjects,  as  in 
the  countenance  afforded  by  him  to  anatomical  pursuits.  It 
was  under  his  auspices,  and  in  a  building  belonging  to  him,* 
that  Dr.  Cadwalader  first  made  his  anatomical  demonstrations 
— a  use,  so  strong  in  those  days  was  the  feeling  against 
dissections,  to  which  few  would  have  been  found  willing  to 
appropriate  their  property.  His  translations  of  Cicero  "  On 
Old  Age,"  and  Cato's  "  Distichs,"  were  among  the  first  trans- 
lations from  the  classics  made  on  this  Continent.  Besides 
these,  he  was  the  author  of  a  scientific  work  entitled,  "  Ex- 
perimenta  et  Meletemata  de  Plantarum  Generatione ;"  or, 
Experiments  on  Indian  Corn,  with  his  observations  arising 
therefrom  on  the  Generation  of  Plants.  This  was  published 
at  Leyden  in  Latin  in  1739,  and  was  afterwards,  in  1747,  re- 
published in  London,  with  an  English  version  on  the  opposite 
page,  by  Dr.  FothergiU. 

Of  SiOfltf  iJattranit  it  is  suflacient  here  to  say  that  he 

*  On  Second  Street  above  Walnut,  on  the  site  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Bank 

of  Pennsylvania. 

(99) 


(Earig  J^isiox^  of  MMcint  in  ^^ilabelp^m. 

has  been  justly  styled  one  of  the  fathers  of  natural  history  m 
ISTorth  America,  and  that  in  his  specialty  he  was  preeminent,  and 
was  pronounced  by  Linnaeus  to  be  the  greatest  practical  bota- 
nist whom  the  world  had  seen.  He  established  on  the  banks 
of  the  Schuylkill,  near  Philadelphia,  the  first  botanical  garden 
in  America,  corresponded  with  many  of  the  distinguished 
philosophers  of  his  time,  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Eoyal 
Society,  as  well  as  of  several  other  scientific  associations  of 
Europe,  and  was  made  American  Botanist  to  King  George 
the  Third,  which  appointment  he  held  until  his  death  in  1777. 
In  1751  he  pubhshed  an  edition  of  Dr.  Short's  "  Treatise  on 
Plants,"  with  an  appendix  containing  a  description  of  the 
medicinal  properties  of  those  peculiar  to  America,  which  is,  I 
believe,  the  first  attempt  at  the  formation  of  an  American 
Materia  Medica.  He  performed  many  journeys  in  the  pursuit 
of  his  favorite  study,  and  published  "  Observations  on  the 
Inhabitants,  Climate,  Soil,  etc.,  made  in  his  travels  from 
Pennsylvania  to  Onondaga."  At  the  age  of  seventy  he 
travelled  through  East  Florida,  in  order  to  explore  its  natural 
productions,  and  afterwards  published  a  journal  of  his  ob- 
servations. He  died  on  the  22d  of  September,  1777,  aged 
seventy-eight  years. 

(100) 


®^e  (Sarig  J^istarg  of  ^thidm  in  |3^ilabtlpbia. 


EPIDEMICS  AXD  SAXITARY  EEGULATIOXS. 

E:N':N^SYLYA]S"IA  was  the  fii'st  of  the  Provinces  to 
adopt  a  system  of  regulations  for  the  protection  of 
the  community  against  sickly  vessels,  as  weU  as  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  hospital  to  prevent  the  spread  of  contagious  dis- 
eases. The  earhest  epidemic  of  which  any  account  has  come 
down  to  us  after  the  settlement  of  Philadelphia  was  in  1699, 
when  yellow  fever  prevailed,  and  proved  exceedingly  fatal — 
"  six,  seven,  and  sometimes  eight  dying  in  a  day,  for  several 
weeks  together,  and  few,  if  any,  houses  being  free  of  the  sick- 
ness." The  disease  was  beheved  to  have  been  introduced 
here,  and  its  occurrence  led  in  the  following  year  to  the  pas- 
sage of  an  Act  by  the  Assembly  "  to  prevent  sickly  vessels 
suddenly  coming  to  this  port."  How  far  the  measures  then 
adopted  were  carried  into  effect  we  have  no  means  of  judging, 
for  from  this  date  tiU  1720  there  is  nothing  noted  in  regard 
to  sanitary  measures,  though  it  may  be   inferred  from   the 

( 101  ) 


subjoined  statement  of  Dr.  Graeme  that  the  laws  then  enact- 
ed were  enforced.  In  this  latter  year  it  is  mentioned  that 
Patrick  Baird,  Chirurgeon,  was  appointed  Port  Physician, 

In  1738  two  vessels  with  passengers  arrived  with  the 
"  Palatine  Fever,"  and  created  so  much  alarm  that  the  Gov- 
ernor, in  his  message  to  the  Assembly,  informing  them  of  the 
fact,  adds  "  that  the  law  of  1700  to  prevent  sickly  vessels 
from  coming  into  this  government  has  been  strictly  put  in 
execution."* 

A  few  months  after  this  occurrence,  it  is  recorded  in  the 
minutes  of  the  House  that  a  petition  from  Dr.  Graeme  was 
presented,  setting  forth  "  that  by  order  of  several  governors 
f(yr  upwards  of  twenty  years  past,  he  has  served  the  public  by 
visiting  and  reporting  the  state  of  sickly  vessels  arriving  here, 
to  the  apparent  risque  of  his  own  health  and  life,  for  which, 
with  other  services  done  by  him  for  the  public,t  he  has  never 
yet  received  any  reward,  and  praying  the  house  to  take  the 
same  into  consideration."     The  sum  of  £100  (currency)  was 

*  The  masters  were  compelled  to  land  the  sick  "  at  a  convenient  distance  from 
the  city,  and  to  convey  them,  at  their  own  expense,  to  houses  in  the  country  pro- 
per for  their  reception." 

t  "  Going  a  journey  about  Indian  affairs." 

(102) 


e  €»rls  l^istorg  of  jflebidne  in  |l^ikbelp^t». 

voted  to  him.*  In  June,  1741,  the  doctor  desired  to  be  ex- 
cused from  further  service,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Lloyd 
Zachary,  the  Assembly  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  direct- 
ing that  "he  be  paid  a  reasonable  reward  for  services  which  he 
shall  do  in  visiting  the  said  vessels." 

As  early  as  1738,  Governor  Thomas  had  recommended  to 
the  Assembly  the  erection  of  a  pest  house  or  hospital  for  in- 
fectious diseases,  but  the  proposition  was  not  assented  to  by 
them  till  three  years  afterwards,  when  the  subject  being  again 
urged,  it  was  agreed  to,  and  Fisher's  Island,  situated  at  the 
junction  of  the  Schuylkill  and  Delaware  rivers,  was  purchased 
for  that  purpose,  and  a  hospital  erected  thereon.f 

The  vessel  that  brought  William  Penn,  with  about  one 
hundred  passengers,  to  our  shores  in  1682,  suffered  during  the 
voyage  from  smallpox,  which  proved  fatal  to  thirty  of  them, 
though  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  communicated  to  the 
settlers  who  had  preceded  him.  In  the  year  1701,  the  disease 
prevailed  here,  and  was  "  general  and  mortal." 

*  From  the  votes  of  the  Assembly,  we  find  that  his  services  were  remunerated 
at  the  rate  of  a  pistole  a  visit. 

t  An  interesting  historical  sketch  of  our  quarantine  by  the  late  Wilson  Jewell, 
M.D.,  was  published  in  1857,  where  this  subject  will  be  found  fully  treated. 

(103) 


In  1726  a  vessel  with  the  smallpox  on  board  arrived, 
though  nothing  was  said  of  its  spreading  in  the  town.  In 
1730  a  severe  epidemic  of  it  prevailed,  and  it  was  at  this 
period  that  inoculation  was  introduced  among  us. 

)^l10tUl^tf on « — This  practice  had  been  brought  into  Eng- 
land in  1721,  and  adopted  to  some  extent  in  the  sister  colony 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  same  year,  and  the  prevalence  of 
the  disease  led  a  number  of  our  citizens  to  submit  themselves 
to  it. 

Under  the  date  of  March  4th,  1730,  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  announces  that  "  Joseph  Growden,  Esq.,  the  first  pa- 
tient of  note  that  led  the  way  in  inoculation,  is  now  upon  the 
recovery,  having  had  none  but  the  most  favorable  symptoms 
during  the  whole  course  of  the  distemper,  which  is  mentioned 
to  show  how  groundless  all  those  extravagant  reports  are 
that  have  been  spread  through  the  Province  to  the  contrary." 

One  of  the  earhest  advocates  for  inoculation,  Franklin,  who 
well  knew  how  to  influence  men  by  making  appeals  to  their 
pockets,  thus  notices  the  disease  in  his  paper  of  July  8th, 
1731 :  "  The  smallpox  has  quite  left  the  city,  the  number  of 
those  that  died  here  of  that  distemper  is  exactly  288,  and  no 
more ;  sixty-four  of  the  number  were  negroes ;  if  these  may 

(104) 


S^e  (Butlyi  %isiot^  of  iSebidne  in  ^^ilabdp^ta. 

be  valued  one  with  another  at  £30  per  head,  the  loss  to  the 
city  m  that  article  is  near  £2000."  Nevertheless,  inoculation 
met  with  much  opposition.  Between  the  autumn  of  1736  and 
spring  of  1737  smallpox  was  very  rife,  and  "  proved  as  mortal 
in  the  common  way  of  infection  as  was  ever  known  in  these 
parts."  It  is  reported  that  during  its  continuance  only  one 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  persons  underwent  inoculation,  of 
whom  but  one,  an  infant,  died;  and  that  of  the  number  inocu- 
lated "  one  was  in  the  fifth  or  sixth  month  of  her  pregnancy, 
notwithstanding  which  she  did  well."  Even  Franklin  at  this 
time  must  have  become  doubtful  of  its  benefits,  for  fi'om  his 
autobiography  we  learn  that  in  this  epidemic  he  lost  a  fine 
boy  four  years  old  by  the  disease  taken  in  the  common  way, 
and  that  he  afterwards  greatly  regretted  not  having  given  it 
to  him  by  inoculation.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  people  were 
divided  as  to  the  propriety  of  inoculation,  some  contending 
warmly  for  its  introduction,  and  others  as  strongly  opposing 
it,  looking  upon  the  practice  of  "  soliciting  a  distemper  before 
nature  was  disposed  to  receive  it  as  a  tempting  of  Providence 
and  a  suggestion  of  the  enemy  of  all  righteousness,"  and 
assertins:  that  the  surg-eons  concealed  or  diminished  the  true 
number  of  deaths  occasioned  by  it,  at  the  same  time  that 

14  ( 105  ) 


"  they  magnij&ed  the  number  of  those  who  died  of  the  disease 
in  the  common  way." 

In  1750,  the  subjects  of  smallpox  and  inoculation  still 
excited  much  attention  in  our  community,  and  Dr.  Adam 
Thompson  published  a  tract  "  On  the  Preparation  of  the 
Body  for  the  Smallpox,"  in  which  it  was  asserted  that  inocu- 
lation "was  so  unsuccessful  in  Philadelphia,  that  many  were 
disposed  to  abandon  it."  This  work  of  twenty-four  quarto 
pages  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain.  It  is  spoken  of  as 
having  merit,  "  being  written  in  a  modest  and  plain  style,  the 
arguments  made  use  of  as  highly  plausible,  and  the  author 
as  actuated  with  a  generous  desire  to  communicate  salutary 
advice  in  the  management  of  a  distemper  which  has  proved 
fatal  to  multitudes."  In  it  a  cooling  regimen  is  recom- 
mended, and  upon  the  suggestion  of  Boerhaave,  he  states, 
"  that  he  was  led  to  prepare  his  patients  for  the  infection  by 
a  composition  of  mercury  and  antimony,  and  that  he  had 
employed  it  for  twelve  years  with  great  success."  The 
production  was  severely  attacked,  among  others  by  Dr. 
Kearsley,  who,  in  the  following  year,  put  forth  "  Remarks  on 
a  Discourse  on  Preparing  for  the  Smallpox,"  which  led  to  a 
rejoinder  from  the  well-known  Dr.   Alexander  Hamilton,  of 

(106) 


Annapolis,  Maryland,  entitled  "  A  Defence  of  Dr.  Thompson's 
Discoui'se,"  and  was  published  here  by  Bradford  in  the  same 
year. 

In  the  year  1756  the  smallpox  was  again  prevalent,  and,  as 
we  learn  from  Dr.  Hamilton,  of  Bush  Hill,  "raged  terribly 
all  the  summer  and  autumn,  and  swept  away  numbers  of 
people."^  Some  British  troops  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Boquet,  who  arrived  in  Philadelphia  about  this  time,  increased 
the  ravages  of  the  infection,  so  much  so  that  Governor 
Demiy,  in  his  message  to  the  Assembly  in  the  month  of 
December,  said:  "The  smallpox  is  increasing  among  the 
soldiers  to  such  a  degree  that  the  whole  town  will  soon 
become  a  hospital."  Inoculation  was  practised  to  some 
extent,  but  was  not  general,  and  the  great  prejudice  against 
it  was  only  slowly  overcome.  At  this  period  a  tract  ap- 
peared from  the   pen   of  Dr.  Lauglilin  Macleane,t  entitled 

*  Letter  to  Dr.  Hill. 

t  Dr.  Macleane  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  who  had  been  a  collegiate  acquaint- 
ance of  Goldsmith,  graduated  in  medicine  at  Edinburgh,  and  came  out  to 
America,  a  young  man,  as  surgeon  to  some  British  troops.  He  resided  in  Phila- 
delphia for  a  number  of  years,  and  has  made  some  noise  in  the  world  from  his 
name  having  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  authorsliip  of  "Junius." 

(1O70 


e  (Earip  J^istorp  of  fiHtttUim  in  jpl^ilabelp^m. 


"An  Essay  on  the  Expediency  of  Inoculation,  and  the  Seasons 
most  i^roper  for  it.     Humbly  inscribed  to  the  inhabitants 

He  must  have  left  the  army  soon  after  coming  here,  for  he  carried  on  business  as 
a  druggist  in  Second  Street  near  Market,  at  the  sign  of  the  "Golden  Pestle,"  in 
partnership  with  one  Stewart,  but  I  believe  never  practised  medicine.  In  1761 
he  proposed  a  scheme  for  the  erection,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city,  of  warm 
and  cold  baths,  connected  with  a  public  garden  and  a  house  of  entertainment,  by 
a  subscription  lottery.  The  project,  however,  was  considered  unfriendly  to 
morals,  and  petitions  were  addressed  to  the  Governor  by  a  number  of  prominent 
citizens,  as  well  as  by  societies,  to  prevent  the  scheme  being  carried  into  effect. 
A  part  of  one  of  the  petitions  is  very  curious,  and  I  think  may  amuse  the  reader. 
In  this  it  is  said,  "  That  they  believed  that  a  public  ground  will  be  a  nursery  of 
all  kinds  of  dissipation.  How  destructive  such  places  are  to  the  morals  of  a 
people,  what  they  usually  terminate  in,  and  how  ill-suited  they  are  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  this  young  city,  and  the  former  character  of  its  inhabitants,  we 
need  not  mention  to  your  Honour.  Were  there  nothing  more  in  view  than  what 
is  pretended,  it  might  be  effected  with  as  near  a  few  hundred  pounds  as  there  are 
thousands  proposed,  "Were  a  hot  or  cold  bath  necessary  for  the  health  of  the 
inliabitants  of  the  city  they  might,  at  a  small  expense,  be  added  to  the  hospital 
[hot,  cold,  and  steam-baths  had  been  introduced  into  this  institution  by  Dr. 
Bond,  soon  after  its  foundation],  put  under  the  sober  government  of  that  place, 
and  kept  separate  ftom  those  used  by  the  patients,  and  as  to  a  public  place  for 
walking,  the  State  House  green  or  garden  is,  by  a  law  of  this  Province,  set  apart 
for  that  purpose." 

The  enterprise  was  abandoned,  and  the  doctor  soon  after  left  the  country.    Mr. 
Graydon  informs  us  that  "  he  was  considered  to  have  great  skill  in  his  profession, 

(108) 


OEfee  (Karls  l^istors  of  Mtttitxnt  in  g^ilatrelplfeta. 

of  Philadelphia.  Printed  by  Wilham  Bradford,  at  the  corner 
house  of  Market  and  Front  Streets."  The  style  of  this  little 
work  is  quaint.  In  it  numerous  extracts  from  medical  writ- 
ings are  given,  with  classic  quotations  from  Greek  and  Latin 
authors.  The  chief  argument  agamst  inoculation  by  scrupu- 
lous persons,  the  author  tells  us,  was  from  conscience,  "they 
deeming  it  presumption  to  tempt  the  Almighty  by  mflictmg 

as  well  as  to  be  a  man  of  wit  and  general  information,  but  that  he  had  never 
known  a  person  who  had  a  more  distressing  impediment  in  his  speech."  In  1767 
he  became  Under  Secretary  to  Lord  Shelburne,  and  afterwards,  notwithstanding 
his  misfortune  in  speech,  got  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Lord  North,  after 
this,  conferred  upon  him  the  Collectorship  of  the  Port  of  Philadelphia,  when  he 
came  out  a  second  time,  but  returned  to  England  the  following  year,  and  got  an 
appointment  in  India  as  a  sort  of  confidential  agent  to  Warren  Hastings.  In 
1776  he  went  to  England  as  agent  in  London  to  Mr,  Hastings,  who  placed  in  his 
hands  his  resignation  as  Governor-General,  instructing  him  that  it  was  not  to  be 
handed  in  unless  it  was  "  ascertained  that  the  feeUng  at  the  India  Board  was 
adverse  to  the  Governor-General."  Circumstances  afterwards  occurred  when 
Macleane  thought  himself  justified  in  producing  the  resignation  with  which  he 
had  been  intrusted.  Mr.  Hastings  denied  that  his  agent  had  acted  in  conformity 
with  his  instructions,  and  what  they  had  been  he  owned  he  had  forgotten,  and  had 
no  copy  of  them,  though  the  fact  was  attested  by  several,  in  whose  presence  the 
orders  were  communicated  to  Macleane.  He  perished  on  his  return  to  India  in 
1777,  the  vessel  in  which  he  embarked  never  being  heard  of  after  she  quitted  the 

Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

(109) 


©fee  (Karig  JJistxrrB  of  laeMdne  in  |l%ilatrelp%m. 

distempers  without  his  permission."  After  ably  combating 
this  opinion,  he  closes  this  part  of  his  subject  by  observing, 
"  Much  of  this  nature  are  the  objections  made  to  the  use  of 
Mr.  Franklin's  invention  for  defending  us  from  the  fatal  effects 
of  lightning,  certainly  one  of  the  most  signal  benefits  to  man- 
kind," and  argues  that  the  application  of  the  means  thus 
offered  is  not  presumption,  but  a  command  to  endeavour  to 
avail  ourselves  of  the  means  of  safety  which  God  has  left  to 
our  sagacity,  w^hich  parallel  reasoning  offers  an  argument 
equally  strong  in  favour  of  inoculation."  His  remarks  on  the 
preparation  of  the  body  for  the  disease  and  its  treatment  are 
excellent,  and  are  not  surpassed  by  the  best  writers  of  the 
time.  He  condemns  strongly  the  custom  of  using  an  uni- 
versal preparative,  as  was  then  countenanced,  even  by  some 
of  the  Faculty,  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  "the  preposterous 
method  of  preparmg  all  their  patients  after  one  and  the  same 
manner,  as  most  offensive  to  common  sense."  "The  indis- 
criminate use  of  mercury,"  the  most  common  mode,  he 
disapproves  of.  He  also  objects  to  the  too  free  use  of 
cordials  and  spirits  in  the  treatment,  and  more  particularly 
"  the  infernal  practice  of  blistering  by  rote,  whether  there  be 
an  indication  for  it  or  not,"  recommending  in  their  stead  the 

(110) 


judicious  practice  of  Sydenham,  Mead,  and  Hiixham,  with 
whose  works  he  seems  quite  famihar. 

In  passing,  I  would  refer  to  a  practice  much  resorted 
to  a  few  years  since  in  this  neighbourhood,  in  scarlet  fever, 
and  perhaps  still  popular  with  some  practitioners,  viz.,  that 
a  slice  of  bacon  for  the  throat  "is  mentioned  by  him  as  a 
favourite  treatment  with  nurses  and  the  lower  people"  in 
smallpox  at  that  period. 

Dr.  Macleane,  it  may  be  here  mentioned,  had  been  a  pupil 
of  Doctor  Rutherford,  of  Edinburgh,  in  1753,  and  in  the 
course  of  his  little  work  takes  occasion  to  pay  a  grateful 
tribute  to  him.  As  this  gentleman  had  been  the  instructor  of 
most  of  the  ancient  physicians  of  this  city,  who  resorted  to 
Europe  for  their  medical  education,  and  is  often  mentioned 
by  them,  I  have  thought  it  might  prove  of  interest  to  those 
of  the  present  day  to  extract  it,  as  showing  something  of  the 
mode  of  teaching  at  that  time  in  Scotland.  "  A  tribute  due 
to  his  worth  from  his  pupils,  who  can  never  suflS.ciently 
acknowledge  the  advantages  they  have  reaped  from  his 
labours ;  above  all,  from  his  excellent  institution  of  clinical 
lectures,  where  they  daily  saw  him  put  in  practice  on  num- 
berless patients  the   salutary  precepts  which  he  had  before 

(111) 


9r^e  Claris  f^hior^  of  fSitbUint  in  pi^tkbdp^m. 

taught  them  in  his  class.  If  great  abilities  constitute,  if  a 
tender  heart  and  extensive  charity  adorn  the  real  physician, 
no  man  ever  deserved  the  title  better;  no  man  graced  the 
science  more." 

Inoculation,  however,  did  not  make  that  progress  among 
the  people  which  was  looked  for,  and  Dr.  Franklin,  at  that 
time  in  London,  who  was  now  a  warm  upholder  of  the  prac- 
tice, believing  that  the  expense  of  the  operation,  which  he 
says  "  was  pretty  high  in  some  parts  of  America,"*  might 
have  been  in  the  way  of  its  adoption,  judged  that  a  pamphlet 
written  by  a  skilful  practitioner,  showing  what  preparation 
should  be  used  before  the  inoculation  of  children,  and  the 
precautions  necessary  to  avoid  giving  the  infection  at  the 
same  time  in  the  common  way,  how  the  operation  was  to  be 
performed,  and  "  on  the  appearance  of  what  symptoms  a  phy- 
sician was  to  be  called,"  might  be  a  means  of  removing  that 
objection  of  expense,  render  its  adoption  more  general,  and 
thereby  save  the  lives  of  thousands,  "prevailed  upon  Dr. 
William  Heberden  to  write  some  account  of  the  success  of 
Inoculation,  and  Plain  Instructions  for  the  same,"  and  that 

*  Dr.  Potts  informs  us  that  in  Philadelphia  they  seldom  charged  less  than  three 

pounds. 

(112) 


gentleman  generously,  at  his  own  expense,  printed  a  very 
large  impression  of  the  work,  which  was  distributed  in 
America.  It  was  handsomely  issued  in  a  quarto  form  in 
1759,  was  largely  circulated  in  and  about  Philadelphia,  and 
attracted  much  attention.  In  this  work  the  operation  is  re- 
commended at  any  season  of  the  year,  and  at  all  ages,  except 
m  the  very  young  and  old.  Merely  weakly  constitutions,  and 
those  tainted  by  some  hereditary  distemper,  were  not  dis- 
couraged from  being  inoculated,  but  "on  breeding  women, 
no  consideration  whatever  should  tempt  us  to  perform  it,  un- 
less we  can  suppose  an  absolute  certainty  of  their  catching 
the  disease  in  the  common  way."  In  the  same  year  in  which 
this  pamphlet  appeared.  Dr.  "William  Bamet,  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  'New  Jersey,  a  gentleman  very  experienced  in  the 
matter,  was  invited  to  Philadelphia  to  inoculate  for  the 
smallpox,  and  opened  a  house  for  that  purpose,  the  first 
private  hospital  of  the  kind  in  Pennsylvania,  of  which  I  find 
any  mention.  At  this  time.  Dr.  Redman,  too,  published 
"A  Defence  of  Inoculation,"  recommending  the  practice  to 
his  fellow-citizens  in  the  most  affectionate  language,  which 
tended  to  bring  it  much  more  into  esteem. 

In  January,  1773,  smallpox  again  prevailed,  and  Dr.  Glent- 

15  (113) 


e  (Sntl^  H^hiotui  of  fitbidnt  in  p^ll»belpl^i». 

worth  opened  a  hospital  for  inoculation.     In  the  winter  of 
1774  it  was  also  prevalent,  and  great  alarm  was  created  from 
the  fact  that  no  less  than  three  hundred,  out  of  thirteen  hun- 
dred and  forty-four  deaths  which  occurred  in  the  city  and 
liberties  during  the  year,  were  occasioned  by  that  disorder  in 
the  natural  way.     The  chief  of  these  were  children  of  poor 
people,  who  could  not  afford  the  expense  of  inoculation,  and 
were  unable  to  procure  proper  persons  to  perform  it.     To 
remedy  this  "  a  society  for  inoculating  the  poor"  was  estab- 
lished,  and  eight   of   the  principal  physicians   of  the   day 
volunteered  to  perform  the  operation,  prepare  them  for  it,  and 
also  to  attend  them  at  their  own  houses,  free  of  expense. 
This  was  done  extensively  till  the  month  of  September,  1774, 
when  the  physicians  of  the  city  met  together  and  agreed  to 
inoculate  no   patients   during  the   sitting  of  Congress    "as 
several  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  delegates  are  under- 
stood not  to  have  had  that  disorder."     In  1776  Morgan  tells 
us  "the  practice  was  very  common  in  the  Middle  States," 
and  it  continued  to  be  so  till  the  introduction  of  vaccination. 
This  took  place  in  1803,  when  a  printed  address  was  circu- 
lated, signed  by  fifty-seven  practising  physicians,  headed  by 
the  venerable  Redman,  recommending  vaccination,  and  very 
soon  children  generally  were  submitted  to  it. 

(114) 


^\t  €arls  Bist0r2  of  fllebirine  in  fS^ilabelp^ia. 


MEDICAL  SOCIETIES. 

A  medical  society  was  instituted  in  Philadelphia  on  the  4th 
of  February,  1765,  and  was,  as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  first 
professional  organization  formed  in  the  Colonies.*  It  was 
called  "  The  Philadelphia  Medical  Society."  This  continued 
in  operation  till  the  11th  of  November,  1768,  when  it  was 
united  with  the  "American  Society  for  Promoting  Useful 
Knowledge,"t  it  being  judged  "that  the  union  might  be 
beneficial  to  the  community,  and  the  ends  proposed  of  both 
be  thereby  better  answered."  Accordmgly,  at  the  meeting 
of  the  latter  society,  held  on  the  11th  of  that  month,  a 
number  of  the  members  of  the  Medical  Society  attended,  J 
and  the  Medical  Fellows  were  appointed  a  standing  committee 

*  The  first  Medical  Association  in  New  Jersey  was  held  at  New  Brunswick,  in 
July,  1766,  and  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  which  is  generally  stated  to 
have  been  the  first  attempt  at  professional  organization  in  America,  was  not 
originated  till  1781. 

t  Now  known  as  the  American  Philosophical  Society. 

X  The  members  at  the  time  of  union  consisted  of  Drs.  Grseme,  Cadwalader, 
Kedman,  Morgan,  Kearsley,  Clarkson,  Bayard,  Harris,  Kush,  Souman,  Glent- 
worth,  and  Potts. 

(115) 


"to  consider  and  report  upon  matters  relative  to  physic." 
By  this  society  a  number  of  dissertations  on  medical  subjects 
were  received,  and  were  published  in  octavo  form,  as  well  as 
in  the  newspapers — at  that  period  the  chief  medium  which 
the  country  afforded  for  diffusing  such  information.  Several 
of  these  publications  in  the  book  form  are  now  in  my  posses- 
sion. Among  them  are  "  An  Essay  on  the  Virtues  and  Uses 
of  several  substances  in  Medicine,  that  are  the  native  growth 
of  America ;"  A  Dissertation  on  the  Causes,  !N^ature,  and 
Treatment  of  Apoplexy ;"  "  On  the  Dry  Belly  Ache,  or  ^NTer- 
vous  Cholic ;"  On  Catarrhal  Peripneumony ;"  and  "  On  Con- 
sumption." A  second  medical  organization,  termed  the 
"American  Medical  Society,"  was  founded  in  1770,  by  a 
number  of  students  who  had  assembled  in  this  city  "  to  hear 
the  lectures  of  the  medical  professors,  and  who  judged  they 
might  derive  advantage  from  associating  themselves  in  order 
to  discuss  various  questions  in  the  healing  art,  and  to  com- 
municate their  observations  on  different  subjects."  The 
society  consisted  of  senior  and  junior  members,  and  soon 
ranked  among  its  active  seniors  many  of  the  most  eminent 
characters  in  our  city.  Its  meetings  were  held  weekly  during 
the  continuance  of  the  medical  lectures.     Dr.  Shippen  was 

(116) 


e  €»tls  J^istorg  of  iSebitine  in  jp]^il»belp^i». 

its  President  in  1790.  It  continued  in  operation  till  Novem- 
ber, 1792,  and  reports  of  cases  read  before  it  are  in  print. 
From  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Thomas  Penn  with  the 
Secretary  of  the  Province,  it  appears  that  as  early  as  the  year 
1767  Dr.  John  Morgan  was  actively  engaged  in  an  effort  to 
establish  "a  College  of  Physicians;"  but  in  this  he  was  frus- 
trated by  the  Proprietaries  refusing  to  grant  a  charter  for  the 
purpose,  looking  upon  it  as  "  too  early  for  such  an  establish- 
ment," and  the  unsuccessful  effort  thus  made  prevented  any 
scheme  of  the  sort  being  carried  into  execution  till  after  the 
war  of  Independence.*  Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1786, 
the  physicians  of  Philadelphia,  influenced  by  the  conviction 
of  the  many  advantages  that  have  arisen  in  every  country 
fi'om  literary  institutions,  associated  themselves  under  the 
name  and  title  of  "The  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadel- 
phia." The  first  stated  meeting  of  this  body  was  held  on  the 
2d  of  January,  1787,  and  two  years  afterwards  it  secured  its 

*  Mr.  Penn's  letter  is  as  follows  (extract  of  a  letter  from  Thos.  Penn  to 
Richard  Peter,  dated  Feb.  27th,  1767)  :  "I  have  had  a  letter  from  Dr.  Morgan, 
and  proposals  for  erecting  a  College  of  Physicians.  I  think  it  very  early  for  such 
an  establishment,  and  wish  the  faculty  would  not  press  for  such  a  thing.  I  shall 
confer  with  Dr.  Pothergill  upon  it." 

(117) 


Act  of  Incorporation.  The  objects  of  the  association,  as 
expressed  fii'st  by  its  constitution,  and  afterwards  in  the  pre- 
amble of  the'charter,  are  "to  advance  the  science  of  medicine, 
and  thereby  to  lessen  human  misery,  by  investigating  the 
diseases  and  remedies  which  are  peculiar  to  our  country ;  by 
observing  the  effects  of  different  seasons,  climates,  and  situa- 
tions upon  the  human  body ;  by  recording  the  changes  that 
are  produced  in  diseases  by  the  progress  of  agriculture,  arts, 
population,  and  manners ;  by  searching  for  medicines  in  our 
woods,  waters,  and  the  bowels  of  the  earth ;  by  enlarging  our 
avenues  to  knowledge  fi-om  the  discoveries  and  publications 
of  foreign  countries ;  by  appointing  stated  times  for  literary 
intercourse  and  communications;  and  by  cultivating  order 
and  uniformity  in  the  practice  of  physic."  The  following 
were  the  original  fellows  who  composed  it,  viz :  John  Redman, 
John  Jones,  "William  Shippen,  Jr.,  Benjamin  Rush,  Samuel 
Duffield,  James  Hutchinson,  Abraham  Chovet,  John  Morgan, 
Adam  Kuhn,  Gerardus  Clarkson,  Thomas  Parke,  and  George 
Glentworth. 

'No  law  has  ever  existed  in  Philadelphia  regulating  the 
practice  of  medicme  or  establishing  a  medical  police ;  but  on 
the  occurrence  of  violent  epidemics,  and  upon  questions  of 

(118) 


^^t  (Earlg  History  of  iSebirine  in  jp^ilal^elp(i». 

medical  jurisprudence,  the  college  has  been  consulted  by  the 
civil  authorities  both  of  our  State  and  City. 

From  the  institution  of  the  college,  one  of  their  principal 
views  was  the  formation  of  an  American  Pharmacopoeia.  To 
make  this  work  useful  to  the  whole  country,  a  circular  letter 
was  addressed  by  them,  in  the  year  1789,  to  all  the  known 
medical  societies,  as  well  as  to  many  eminent  practitioners  in 
the  United  States,  requesting  their  advice  and  assistance ;  but 
the  general  apathy  on  the  subject,  and  the  small  number  of 
communications  received  by  them,  retarded  the  completion  of 
their  design.* 

In  1793  the  college  pubUshed  a  volume  of  "  Transactions," 
containing  an  Address  to  the  members  on  its  estabUshment, 
in  which  is  set  forth  the  object  of  the  institution,  and  sug- 
gesting the  many  resources  which  our  country  offers  for  the 
improvement   of  medicine;    as   well   as   contributions    fi-om 

*  A  small  collection  of  recipes  intended  for  the  use  of  the  Eevolutionary  army 
surgeons  was  published  by  Dr.  William  Brown  in  1782.  Copies  of  this,  and  of  the 
circular  letter  of  the  College,  both  of  which  are  exceedingly  rare,  are  in  my 
possession.  The  first  work  of  the  kind  accomplished  in  the  United  States  was 
by  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  in  1806,  but  no  N'ational  Pharmacopoeia 
was  published  until  1820. 

(119) 


e  €arls  J^istorg  of  l^ebidtte  in  ^^ikbelp^i^. 

Rush,  Currie,  Jones,  and  others.  In  1798  they  published  a 
Yohime  entitled  "Facts  and  Observations  relative  to  the 
Mature  and  Origin  of  the  Pestilential  Fever  which  prevailed 
in  this  City  in  1793,  1797,  and  1798 ;"  and  in  the  year  1806, 
another  volume  of  "Additional  Facts  and  Observations  rela- 
tive to  the  Mature  and  Origin  of  the  Pestilential  Fever." 

After  the  date  last  mentioned,  their  publications  were  dis- 
continued until  1841,  when  they  were  recommenced,  and  since 
that  period  have  been  regularly  issued.  In  1858  the  mode  of 
their  publication  was  changed ;  they  having  from  that  date 
appeared  in  the  "American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences." 

In  addition  to  the  medical  societies  mentioned,  two  others 
were  also  incorporated  by  our  Legislature,  and  were  in  active 
operation  before  the  close  of  the  century,  "  The  Philadelphia 
Medical  Society,"  instituted  in  1789,  and  the  "  Philadelphia 
Academy  of  Medicine,"  of  which  Dr.  Physick  was  the  first 
President,  instituted  in  1797,  with  the  particular  object  of  in- 
quiring into  and  elucidating  the  nature  of  pestilential  diseases. 
'No  State  Society  existed  in  Pennsylvania  until  the  year  1848. 


(120) 


Si;^e  Carls  f^hitn^  of  fAtbhint  in  jp^ilabelp^la. 

PRIVATE  AND  SUMMER  COURSES  OF  LECTURES. 

Private  and  summer  courses  of  lectures  were  begun  in 
Philadelphia  at  an  early  date,  and  did  much  to  attract 
students  to  our  city. 

Those  of  Shippen  upon  Anatomy  and  Midwifery,  have 
ah-eady  been  particularly  referred  to.  In  1766  Dr.  Bond  com- 
menced Clinical  Lectures  at  the  Hospital  upon  the  Practice 
of  Medicine  as  well  as  upon  Midwifery.  Dr.  Rush  lectured 
upon  Chemistry  in  1774,  and  Dr.  Chovet  upon  Anatomy  m 
the  same  year.  All  of  these  attracted  considerable  notice, 
and  the  courses  of  the  latter  gentleman  were  annually  con- 
tinued for  ten  or  twelve  seasons. 

In  1784  Dr.  John  Foulke  lectured  upon  Anatomy  and  Sur- 
gery, and  opened  an  Anatomical  Hall,  "  with  a  determination 
to  put  the  character  of  a  Philadelphia  anatomist  upon  a  higher 
footing  than  it  had  ever  before  been ;"  at  the  same  time  he 
took  care  to  assure  his  fellow-citizens  "  that  in  his  pursuit  he 
was  determined  to  observe  every  attention  to  decency,  solem- 
nity, and  punctuality."  The  fee  demanded  by  him  was  twelve 
dollars.  His  lectures  and  anatomical  rooms  were  kept  up  till 
his  death  in  1796.  Dr.  Foulke  had  graduated  at  the  College 
of  Pliiladelphia  in  1780,  and  afterwards  perfected  himself  in 

16  (121) 


(Earls  %ist0rs  of  f&Mcim  in  ^^ikbelp^ia. 

the  branches  taught  by  him  in  Europe.  He  faithfully  fulfilled 
the  promises  he  made  at  starting,  and  proved  an  able,  suc- 
cessful, and  eloquent  teacher.  His  hall  was  well  patronized, 
and  he  did  much  to  promote  the  study  of  practical  anatomy 
among  us. 

In  1789,  and  subsequent  years,  I  find  "  Dr.  J.  H.  Gibbons, 
of  Arch  Street,"  advertising  his  lectures  on  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Medicine.* 

In  addition  to  these.  Dr.  Benjamin  Duffield,  at  an  early 
period,  1793,  commenced  summer  lectures  on  Midwifery, 
which  were  continued  till  his  death  in  1799.  He  likewise,  for 
several  seasons,  lectured  upon  Diseases  of  Hospitals  and  Jails, 
"and  the  American  Practice  of  Physic."  He  was  suc- 
ceeded in  his  obstetric  lectures  by  Drs.  Church  and  James. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  century  Dr.  Price,  of  London, 
lectured  upon  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic,  as  well  as 
upon  Midwifery  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,  and 
at  about  the  same  period,  1797,  Dr.  Dewees  presented  himself 
before  the  public  as  a  teacher  "in  a  regular  and  extensive 
course  on  Obstetrics." 

*  This  gentleman  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  and  graduated  at  Edinburgh  in  1786. 

He  died  October  5th,  1795, 8etat36. 

(122) 


e  €arl|i  J^istorg  of  iSebidne  in  jS^ilabelp^ia. 


MEDICAL  PUBLICATIOl^S  AKD  LIBRARIES. 

In  colonial  times  books  were  expensive  luxuries,  yet  many 
of  the  professional  men  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  pages 
possessed  choice  collections  of  the  standard  works  of  the  day, 
and  the  best  editions  of  the  older  authors,  and  for  a  long 
period  previous  to  the  Revolution  there  existed  in  our  city 
a  pubUc  hbrary,  the  Loganian,  affording  ample  means  for 
acquiring  all  that  was  known  upon  anatomy,  surgery,  and 
the  kindred  sciences  in  the  EngUsh  as  well  as  in  foreign 
languages. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  original  productions  pubHshed 
here  were  few,  the  only  ones  issued  in  the  last  century,  of 
which  I  am  aware,  being  the  tracts  of  Cadwalader,  Thompson, 
Kearsley,  Hamilton,  Redman,  and  Macleane,  and  the  works  of 
Morgan,  Jones,  Rush,  Currie,  Cathrall,  and  Deveze,  which 
have  already  been  mentioned.  The  reprints  of  English  works 
up  to  the  period  of  the  war  embraced  about  an  equal  number 
of  volumes.  The  first  of  these  was  an  edition  of  "  Short's 
Medicma  Brittanica,"  with  notes  showing  the  places  where 
many  of  the  plants  are  to  be  found  in  these  parts  of  America, 
then-  differences  in  name,  appearance,  and  vh-tue,  from  those 

(123) 


of  the  same  kind  in  Europe,  and  an  appendix  containing  a 
description  of  a  number  of  plants  peculiar  to  America,  their 
uses,  virtues,  etc.,  edited  by  the  well-known  botanist,  John 
Bartram.  It  was  printed  by  Franklin  in  1751.  Two  edi- 
tions, the  fii-st  of  which  was  in  quarto  form,  of  the  lectures  of 
Cullen  on  Materia  Medica  appeared  in  1775  and  1789;  his 
work  on  the  Practice  was  reprinted  here  in  1781.  Gregory's 
Lectures  on  the  Practice  were  issued  in  1773,  and  Ranby  on 
Gunshot  Wounds  in  1776;  and,  at  a  later  period,  Benjamin 
Bell's  System  of  Surgery,  edited  by  Dr.  Waters,  with  notes 
by  Dr.  John  Jones,  which  went  to  a  third  edition.  With  the 
exceptions  mentioned  these  books  all  issued  from  the  press  of 
Robert  Bell,  an  enterprising  publisher,  to  whom  our  citizens 
were  under  obUgations  for  many  valuable  reprints.  In  the  art 
of  puffing  he  seems  to  have  been  in  no  degree  behind  some  of 
his  modern  brethren.  His  advertisements  of  the  work  printed 
in  1775  terminates  as  follows:  "The  American  physicians 
who  wish  to  arrive  at  the  top  of  their  profession,  are  informed 
that  the  great  Professor  CuUen's  Lectures  on  the  Materia 
Medica,  containing  the  very  cream  of  Physic,  are  now  selling 
by  said  Bell,  in  Third  Street.     Price  five  dollars."* 

*  Penna.  Gazette,  No.  24,  Nov.  22, 1775. 
(124) 


e  (Sarlg  l^istorg  of  fiMcim  in  fJIjilalielp^ia. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  Bartram  first  led  the 
way  in  selecting  works  on  medicine  for  republication  in 
America,  adding  to  them  such  notes  and  additions  as  would 
adapt  them  to  the  wants  of  this  country.  The  example  was 
afterwards  followed  by  Eush,  in  1781,  with  Cullen's  Practice, 
and  Waters  in  1783.  At  a  later  period  Rush  also  introduced 
to  his  countrymen  the  works  of  Sydenham,  Cleghom,  Pringle, 
and  Hillary. 

THE  FOUlS'DATIOiN'  OF  HOSPITALS. 

The  foundation  of  hospitals  among  us  produced  the  most 
important  efiects  on  the  character  of  the  medical  profession, 
and  forms  a  great  era  in  our  progress.  The  Pennsylvania 
Hospital,  the  first  of  these  institutions  established  in  the 
country,  was  erected  principally  by  the  contributions  of  the 
benevolent  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  though  aided  by  a  grant 
of  JB2000  from  the  Colonial  Assembly,  and  received  its  charter 
in  1751.  Its  estabUshment,  as  has  been  already  stated,  was 
owing  to  the  suggestion  of  a  physician.  Dr.  Thomas  Bond. 
Up  to  the  period  of  its  foundation,  no  college  of  medicine 
existed  on  the  continent,  and  the  hospital,  under  the  care  of 
some  of  the  first  medical  men  of  the  period,  early  attracted 

(125) 


t  (&Htl}3  %!st0rs  of  tiMdnt  in  p^ilatrelp^i^. 

the  attention  of  both  physicians  and  students,  and  very  ma- 
terially contributed  to  the  advancement  and  distinguished 
position  attained  by  the  medical  school  which  was  soon  after- 
wards begun.  In  1762  Dr.  John  Fothergill  presented  to  the 
hospital,  through  William  Logan,  lately  returned  from  Lon- 
don, a  book  entitled  "An  Experimental  History  of  the 
Materia  Medica,"  by  "William  Lewis,  F.R.S.  It  was  given 
"  for  the  benefit  of  the  young  students  in  physic,  who  may 
attend  under  the  direction  of  the  physician,"  and  the  gift 
seems  to  have  led  to  the  idea  of  connecting  with  the  institu- 
tion a  medical  Ubrary.  Shortly  afterwards  Fothergill  made 
another  donation  to  the  hospital  of  a  series  of  anatomical 
drawings,  fi*amed  and  glazed,  three  cases  of  anatomical  casts, 
and  one  case  containing  a  skeleton  and  foetus.  This  present, 
it  must  be  remembered,  was  made  at  a  time  when  the  oppor- 
tunities of  acquiring  anatomical  knowledge  were  few,  and 
when  dissections  were  but  little  pursued  in  Philadelphia. 
"  In  want  of  real  subjects,"  says  Dr.  Fothergill  in  his  letter 
accompanying  them,  "  these  will  have  their  use,  and  I  have 
recommended  to  Dr.  Shippen  to  give  a  course  of  anatomical 
lectures  to  such  as  may  attend ;  he  is  very  well  qualified  for 
the  subject,  and  will  soon  be  followed  by  an  able  assistant, 

(126) 


e  (Sntlji  H^istat^s  of  iKebkfne  in  jp^ilabtlpl^ia. 

Dr.  Morgan,  both  of  whom,  I  apprehend,  will  not  only  be 
useful  to  the  Province  in  their  employments,  but  if  suitably 
countenanced  by  the  Legislature  will  be  able  to  erect  a  school 
of  physic  amongst  you  that  may  draw  many  students  from 
various  parts  of  America  and  the  West  Indies,  and  at  least 
furnish  them  with  a  better  idea  of  the  rudiments  of  their  pro- 
fession than  they  have  at  present  the  means  of  acquiring  on 
your  side  of  the  water."  This  recommendation  of  Dr.  Foth- 
ergill  received  the  sanction  of  the  managers,  and  was  faith- 
fully carried  out  by  Dr.  Shippen,  and  formed  the  first  regular 
course  upon  anatomy  and  midwifery  ever  given  here.  They 
were  attended  by  ten  students,  and  were  repeated  in  1763 
and  1764 

Although  a  number  of  students  were  attracted  to  the  in- 
stitution soon  after  its  foundation  by  the  reputation  of  its 
medical  officers,  and  the  advantages  it  afforded  for  the  obser- 
vation of  disease,  it  was  not  until  the  year  1763  that  a  fee  was 
demanded  for  this  privilege.  In  that  year  we  find  the  adop- 
tion of  the  following  minute  by  the  Board  of  Managers :  "It 
being  remarked  that  a  number  of  students  in  physic  do  fre- 
quently attend  the  wards  at  the  time  of  the  physician  visiting 
the  patients,  with  a  view  to  improve  themselves  in  experience, 

(127) 


e  (Earlg  m»iwc^  0f  fUtttitint  in  jp^ikbelp^ia;. 

it  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  Board  that  such  of  them, 
at  least,  who  are  not  apprentices  to  the  physician  of  the 
house  should  pay  a  proper  gratuity  for  the  benefit  of  the 
hospital  for  their  privilege ;  the  consideration  of  stipulating 
the  sum  is  referred  to  the  next  board,  after  consulting  with 
the  physician."  At  the  ensuing  meeting  of  the  managers 
the  following  communication  was  received  from  the  phy- 
sicians : — 

Philadelphia,  May  31st,  1763. 

Upon  considering  the  minute  of  the  Managers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital 
made  the  10th  of  5th  Mo.  1763,  relative  to  those  students  who  attend  the  wards 
of  said  hospital,  it  is  our  opinion  that  each  student  who  is  not  an  apprentice  to 
one  of  the  physicians  attending  the  house  shall  pay  six  pistoles  as  a  gratuity  for 
that  privilege.  That  the  managers  and  doctors  in  attendance  for  the  time  being 
shall  be  the  judges  who  are  proper  to  be  admitted  or  refused.  And  further,  as 
the  custom  of  most  of  the  hospitals  in  Great  Britain  has  given  such  gratuities  to 
the  physicians  and  surgeons  attending  them,  we  think  it  properly  belongs  to  us  to 
appropriate  the  money  arising  from  thence,  and  propose  to  apply  it  to  the  found- 
ing a  medical  library  in  the  said  hospital,  which  we  judge  will  tend  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  the  pupils,  and  the  honor  of  the  institution. 

Signed  THOMAS  BOKD, 

THOMAS  CADWALADER, 

PHINEAS  BOND, 

CADWALADER  EVANS. 
(128) 


i^e  (garlg  J^istorg  of  rtteWtme  in  ^^ilatrelpfem. 

"  After  consideration  whereof  the  Board  agrees  to  the  pro- 
posal in  respect  to  the  tenns  upon  which  students  in  physic 
are  to  be  admitted  to  attend  the  wards;  the  gratuity  for 
which  to  be  paid  to  the  treasurer.  And  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
posal for  a  medical  Hbrary,  that  such  books  as  are  purchased 
should  be  approved  of  by  the  managers,  as  likewise  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  are  to  be  lent  out." 

CLINICAL  LECTURES. 
The  earliest  attempt  at  formal  clinical  teaching  ever  made 
in  the  country  was  begun  in  this  hospital  by  Dr.  Thomas 
Bond,  in  1766,  whose  address  introductory  to  this  course, 
setting  forth  the  utility  of  clmical  lectures,  we  have  copied 
from  the  archives  of  the  institution,  and  here  present  upon 
account  of  its  literary  and  historic  interest,  as  well  as  its 
intrinsic  value. 

Dr.  Thomas  Bond's  Introductory  Lecture  to  a  Course  of  Clinical 
Observations  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  delivered  there 
the  third  of  december,  1766. 

"When  I  consider  the  unskilful  hands  the  Practice  of 
Physic  and  surgery  has  of  necessity  been  committed  to  in 
many  parts  of  America,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  behold  so 

17  (129) 


S^e  (Burl^  %istars  of  f^tUcim  in  jjl^ikbtlp^k. 

many  worthy  young  men  training  up  in  these  professions, 
which,  from  the  nature  of  their  objects,  are  the  most  interest- 
ing to  the  community ;  and  yet  a  greater  pleasure  in  foresee- 
ing that  the  unparalleled  pubhc  spirit  of  the  good  people  of 
this  Province  will  shortly  make  Philadelphia  the  Athens  of 
America,  and  render  the  sons  of  Pennsylvania  reputable 
amongst  the  most  celebrated  Europeans  in  all  the  liberal  arts 
and  sciences.  This  I  am  at  present  certain  of,  that  the  insti- 
tutions of  literature  and  charity  already  founded,  and  the 
School  of  Physic  lately  opened  in  this  city,  afford  sufficient 
foundation  for  the  students  of  physic  to  acquire  all  the 
knowledge  necessary  for  their  practising  every  branch  of  their 
professions  reputably  and  judiciously. 

"  The  great  expense  in  going  from  America  to  England, 
and  thence  from  country  to  country,  and  college  to  college,  in 
quest  of  medical  qualifications,  is  often  a  bar  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  brightest  geniuses  amongst  us,  who  might  other- 
wise be  morning  stars  in  their  professions,  and  most  useful 
members  of  society.  Besides,  every  climate  produces  diseases 
peculiar  to  itself,  which  require  experience  to  understand  and 
cure ;  and  even  the  diseases  of  the  several  seasons  in  the  same 
country  are  found  to  differ  so  much,  some  years,  from  what 

(130) 


e  (Earig  j^istorg  of  Mthidne  in  |i(^ilabelp%ia[. 

they  were  in  others,  that  Sydenham,  the  most  sagacious  phy- 
sician that  ever  Uved,  acknowledges  that  he  was  often  diffi- 
culted  and  much  mistaken  in  the  treatment  of  epidemics  for 
some  time  after  their  appearance. 

"  'No  country,  then,  can  be  so  proper  for  the  instruction  of 
youth  in  the  knowledge  of  physic  as  that  in  which  it  is  to  be 
practised ;  where  the  precepts  of  never  failing  experience  are 
handed  down  from  father  to  son,  from  tutor  to  pupil. 

"  That  this  is  no  speculative  opinion,  but  real  matter  of  fact, 
may  be  proven  from  the  savages  of  America,  who,  without 
the  assistance  of  literature,  have  been  found  possessed  of  skill 
in  the  cure  of  diseases  incident  to  their  climate  superior  to 
the  regular  bred  and  most  learned  physicians,  and  that  from 
their  discoveries  the  present  practice  of  physic  has  been  en- 
riched with  some  of  the  most  valuable  medicines  now  in  use. 

"Therefore,  from  principles  of  patriotism  and  humanity, 
the  physic  school  here  should  meet  all  the  protection  and 
encouragement  the  friends  of  their  country,  and  well  wishers 
of  mankind,  can  possibly  give  it.  Though  it  is  yet  in  its 
infancy,  from  the  judicious  treatment  of  its  guardians,  it  is 
already  become  a  forward  child,  and  has  the  promising  ap- 
pearance of  soon  arising  to  a  vigorous  and  healthy  maturity. 

(131) 


t  (Earlg  ffhiot^  of  i&tbicint  in  pifeilabtlp^ia. 

The  professors  in  it  at  present  are  few,  but  their  departments 
include  the  most  essential  parts  of  education ;  another,*  whose 
distinguished  abilities  will  do  honour  to  his  country  and  the 
institution,  is  expected  to  join  them  in  the  spring ;  and  I  think 
he  has  little  faith  who  can  doubt  that  so  good  an  undertaking 
will  ever  fail  of  additional  strength  and  providential  blessing. 
And  I  am  certain  nothing  would  give  me  so  much  pleasure  as 
to  have  it  in  my  power  to  contribute  the  least  mite  towards 
its  perfect  establishment.  The  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Physiologyt  is  well  qualified  for  the  task ;  his  dissections  are 
accurate  and  elegant,  and  his  lectures  learned,  judicious,  and 
clear. 

"  The  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  PhysicJ  has 
had  the  best  opportunities  of  improvement,  joined  to  genius 
and  application,  and  cannot  fail  of  giving  necessary  and  in- 
structive lessons  to  pupils.  The  field  this  gentleman  under- 
takes is  very  extensive,  and  has  many  difficulties  which  may 
mislead  the  footsteps  of  an  uncautioned  traveller;  therefore, 
lectures,  in  which  the  different  parts  of  the  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Physic  are  judiciously  classed  and  systematically 
explained,  will  prevent  many  perplexities  the  student  would 

[*  Dr.  Kuhn.]  [f  Dr.  Shippen.]  [t  Dr.  Morgan.] 

(132) 


(KarlB  ?^ist0r2  of  ffiicbidne  in  J^^ilabdp^ia. 

otherwise  be  embarrassed  with,  will  unfold  the  doors  of  know- 
ledge, and  be  of  great  use  in  directing  and  abridging  his  future 
studies;  yet  there  is  somethmg  further  wanting;  he  must 
join  examples  with  study  before  he  can  be  sufficiently  quali- 
fied to  prescribe  for  the  sick ;  for  language  and  books  alone 
can  never  give  him  adequate  ideas  of  diseases  and  the  best 
method  of  treating  them.  For  which  reasons  infirmaries  are 
justly  reputed  the  grand  theatres  of  medical  knowledge. 
There,  the  clinical  professor  comes  into  the  aid  of  speculation, 
and  demonstrates  the  truth  of  theory  by  facts ;  he  meets  his 
pupils  at  stated  times  in  the  hospital,  and  when  a  case  pre- 
sents, adapted  to  his  purpose,  he  asks  all  those  questions 
which  lead  to  a  certain  knowledge  of  the  disease  and  parts 
affected ;  this  he  does  in  the  most  exact  and  particular  man- 
ner, to  convince  the  students  how  many,  and  what  minute 
circumstances  are  often  necessary  to  form  a  judgment  of 
the  curative  indications  on  which  the  safety  and  life  of  the 
patient  depend ;  from  all  which  circumstances,  and  the  present 
symptoms,  he  pronounces  what  the  disease  is,  whether  it  is 
curable  or  incurable,  in  what  manner  it  ought  to  be  treated, 
and  gives  his  reasons  from  authority  or  experience  for  all  he 
says  on  the  occasion ;  and  if  the  disease  baf&es  the  power  of 

(133) 


e  €»rls  ^isiot^  of  mebidne  in  jl^iklrelp^ia. 


art,  and  the  patient  falls  a  sacrifice  to  it,  he  then  brings  his 
knowledge  to  the  test,  and  fixes  honour  or  discredit  on  his 
reputation  by  exposing  all  the  morbid  parts  to  view,  and 
demonstrates  by  what  means  it  produces  death,  and  if,  per- 
chance, he  finds  something  unexpected,  which  betrays  an  error 
in  judgment,  he,  like  a  great  and  good  man,  immediately  ac- 
knowledges the  mistake,  and  for  the  benefit  of  survivors  pomts 
out  other  methods  by  which  it  might  have  been  more  happily 
treated.  The  latter  part  of  this  field  of  tuition  is  the  surest 
method  of  obtaining  just  ideas  of  diseases.  The  great 
Boerhaave  was  so  attentive  to  it,  that  he  was  not  only  present 
at  the  opening  of  human  bodies,  but  frequently  attended  the 
slaughter-houses  in  Leyden,  to  examine  the  carcasses  of 
beasts ;  and  being  asked  by  a  learned  friend  by  what  means 
he  acquired  such  uncommon  certainty  in  the  diagnostics  and 
prognostics  of  disease  answered,  '  By  examining  dead  bodies, 
studying  Sydenham's  Observations,  and  Bonetus's  Sepul- 
chretum  Anatomicum,'  both  of  which  he  had  read  ten  times, 
and  each  time  with  greater  pleasure  and  improvement. 

"  But  to  give  you  more  familiar  instances  of  the  utility  of 
this  practice,  let  me  remind  several  of  you,  who  were  present 
last  fall  at  the  opening  of  two  bodies,  one  of  which  died  of 

(134) 


asthmatic  complaints,  the  other  of  a  frenzy,  succeeded  by  a 
palsy,  and  ask  you  if  anything  short  of  ocular  demonstra- 
tion could  have  given  you  just  ideas  of  the  causes  of  the 
patient's  death ;  in  one  we  saw  a  dropsy  in  the  left  side  of 
the  thorax,  and  a  curious  polypus  with  its  growing  fimbriae 
of  fourteen  inches  in  length  (now  in  the  hospital),  extending 
fi:-om  the  ventricle  of  the  heart,  far  beyond  the  bifurcation  of 
the  pulmonary  artery ;  in  the  other  we  found  the  brain  partly 
suppurated,  and  the  ventricle  on  the  opposite  side  to  that 
afiected  with  the  paralysis  distended  by  a  large  quantity  of 
limpid  serum,  and  you  must  remember  that  the  state  of  all 
the  morbid  parts  was  predicted  before  they  were  exposed  to 
view,  which  may  have  a  further  advantage,  by  arousing  in 
you  an  industrious  pursuit  after  the  most  hidden  causes  of 
all  the  affections  of  the  human  body,  and  convince  you  what 
injury  they  do  the  Hving  who  oppose  a  decent,  painless,  and 
well-timed  examination  of  the  dead. 

"  Thus,  all  the  professors  in  the  best  European  colleges  go 
hand  in  hand,  and  co-operate  with  each  other  by  regular 
chains  of  reasoning  and  occasional  demonstrations,  to  the 
satisfaction  and  improvement  of  the  students. 

"But  more  is  required  of  us  in  this  late  settled  world, 

(135) 


fE\t  Carls  l^istors  of  iScbinne  in  ^^ilatrelp^la. 

where  new  diseases  often  occur,  and  others,  common  to  many- 
parts  of  Europe,  visit  us  too  frequently,  which  it  behooves 
the  guardians  of  health  to  be  very  watchful  of,  that  they  may 
know  them  well,  and  by  a  hearty  union  and  brotherly  com- 
munication of  observations,  investigate  their  causes,  and 
check  their  progress.  The  task  is  arduous,  but  it  is  a  debt 
we  owe  to  our  friends  and  our  country.  The  atmosphere 
which  suiTounds  us  is  fine,  and  the  air  we  breathe  free,  pure, 
and  naturally  healthy,  and  I  am  fully  persuaded  we  shall  find, 
on  strict  inquiry,  when  it  becomes  otherwise,  it  is  mostly 
from  contagion  imported,  or  neglected  sources  of  putrefaction 
amongst  ourselves,  and,  therefore,  whenever  we  are  able  to 
demonstrate  the  causes,  they  may  be  removed,  and  the  effects 
prevented. 

"Our  fathers,  after  insuring  to  us  the  full  enjoyment  of 
the  inestimable  blessings  of  religious  and  civil  liberty,  have 
settled  us  in  a  country  that  affords  all  the  real  comforts  of 
life,  and  given  us  the  prospect  of  becoming  one  day  a  great 
and  happy  people ;  and  I  know  only  one  objection  to  a  pru- 
dent man's  giving  JS'orth  America  the  preference  to  any  other 
part  of  the  British  Dominions  for  the  place  of  his  residence, 
which  is,  that  the  clhnate  is  sometimes  productive  of  severe 

(136) 


t  (Earig  ?^ist0rg  of  i&tVuint  in  jp^ilatrtlf  ^ia. 

epidemic  diseases  in  the  summer  and  fall.  The  country  is 
otherwise  free  from  those  tedious  and  dangerous  fevers  which 
frequently  infest  most  parts  of  Europe.  The  last  wet  sum- 
mer, and  short  space  of  hot,  diy  weather  in  autunm,  caused 
so  many  intermittents  from  the  southern  suburbs  of  this  city 
all  the  way  to  Georgia,  that  I  may  venture  to  assert  two- 
thu'ds  of  the  inhabitants  were  not  able  to  do  the  least  business 
for  many  weeks,  and  some  famihes,  and  even  townships,  were 
so  distressed  that  they  had  not  well  persons  sufficient  to 
attend  the  sick,  during  which  time  this  city  was  unusually 
healthy.  How  respectable,  then,  would  be  the  character  of 
those  men,  who  should  wipe  this  stain  out  of  the  American 
escutcheon,  and  rescue  their  country  from  such  frequent 
calamities. 

"  Sufficient  encouragement  to  make  the  attempt  is  found 
both  in  History,  the  Books  of  Physic,  and  our  experience. 
Several  instances  are  recorded  of  places  that  were  so  sickly, 
as  to  be  uninhabitable,  until  Princes  have  ordered  then  Phy- 
sicians to  search  into  the  causes  of  their  unhealthiness ;  and 
having  discovered  and  removed  them,  made  thereby  valuable 
additions  to  then-  Kingdoms.  Was  not  our  antient  and 
great  master,  Hippocrates,  so  knowing  in  the  cause  of  pesti- 

18  (137) 


Sl^e  (Sarlg  J^istorg  of  ^Mcint  in  JSlfeilabelpl^m. 

lential  contagion,  as  to  foresee  an  approaching  plague,  and 
send  his  pupils  into  the  cities  to  take  care  of  the  sick  ?  and 
has  not  he,  and  Sydenham,  the  English  Hippocrates,  done  in- 
finite service  to  the  healing  Art,  and  gained  immortal  Honours 
to  themselves  by  their  essays  on  epidemics,  in  which  they 
not  only  accurately  describe  the  diseases  of  their  respective 
countries,  but  show  the  depraved  constitution  of  the  air  which 
produced  each  of  them?  Our  own  experience  also  affords 
much  encouragement:  when  I  first  came  into  this  city,  the 
Dock  was  a  common  sewer  of  filth,  and  was  such  a  nuisance 
to  the  inhabitants  about  it  that  every  Fall  they  were  obliged 
to  use  more  pounds  of  bark  than  they  have  ounces  since  it  has 
been  raised  and  levelled.  Another  striking  instance  of  the 
advantage  of  cleanliness  for  the  preservation  of  health,  affords 
me  an  opportunity  of  paying  a  tribute,  justly  due,  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  Legislature  of  this  Province,  in  framing  the 
salutary  laws  for  paving  and  regulating  the  streets  of  tliis 
city,  and  to  the  indefatigable  industry  and  skill  of  the  com- 
missioners in  executing  them ;  whereby,  they  have  contributed 
so  much  to  the  healthiness  of  the  inhabitants  that  I  am  con- 
fident the  whole  expense  will  be  repaired  in  ten  years  by  the 
lessening  of  the  physic  bills  alone.      A  farm  within  a  few 

(138) 


®%e  (Earig  3§ist0rg  of  ffllebinne  in  Jl^ilatrelp^m. 

miles  of  this  city  was  remarkably  healthy  for  fifty  years, 
whilst  the  tide  overflowed  the  lowlands,  near  the  dwelling- 
house  ;  but  after  they  were  banked  in  by  ditches  so  ill  con- 
trived that  they  did  not  often  discharge  the  water  that  fell 
into  them  for  a  considerable  time,  and  until  it  became  putrid, 
and  thereby  rendered  the  place  as  remarkably  sickly  as  it  had 
been  before  healthy,  I  was  told  by  a  gentleman  of  veracity, 
that  he  saw  the  corpses  of  nine  tenants  that  had  been  carried 
from  it  in  a  few  years. 

"  The  yellow  fever,  which  I  take  to  be  exactly  the  same 
distemper  as  the  plague  of  Athens,  described  by  Thucydides, 
has  been  five  different  times  in  this  city  since  my  residence  in 
it ;  the  causes  of  three  of  them  I  was  luckily  able  to  trace, 
and  am  certain  they  were  the  same  which  produced  a  gaol 
fever  in  other  places,  and  am  of  opinion  the  difference  betwixt 
the  appearance  of  these  fevers  arises  from  the  climate,  and 
the  different  state  the  bodies  are  in  when  they  imbibe  the 
contagion ;  if  so,  the  same  methods  which  are  taken  to  pre- 
vent a  gaol  fever  will  equally  prevent  a  yellow  fever :  it  was 
in  the  year  forty-one  I  first  saw  that  horrid  disease,  which 
was  then  imported  by  a  number  of  convicts  from  the  Dubhn 
gaol.     The  second  time  it  prevailed  it  was  indigenous,  from 

(139) 


e^-ident  causes,  and  was  principally  confined  to  one  square  of 
the  city.  The  third  time  it  was  generated  on  board  of  crowded 
ships  in  the  port,  which  brought  their  passengers  in  health, 
but  soon  after  became  very  sickly.  I  here  saw  the  appear- 
ance of  contagion  like  a  dim  spark,  which  gradually  increased 
to  a  blaze,  and  soon  after  bursts  into  a  terrible  flame,  carrying 
devastation  with  it,  and  after  continuing  two  months,  was  ex- 
tinguished by  the  profuse  sweats  of  tertian  fevers ;  but  this  is 
not  the  ordinary  course  of  the  contagion,  it  is  usually  checked 
by  the  cool  evenings  in  September,  and  dies  on  the  appear- 
ance of  an  October  frost. 

"I  lately  visited  an  Irish  passenger  vessel,  which  brought 
the  people  perfectly  healthy  until  they  came  in  our  river; 
I  found  five  of  them  ill,  and  others  unwell,  and  saw  that  the 
fomes  of  infection  was  spreading  among  them ;  I,  therefore, 
ordered  the  ship  to  lay  quarantine,  to  be  well  purified  with 
the  steams  of  sulphur,  and  with  vinegar ;  directed  the  bed- 
ding and  clothing  of  the  people  to  be  well  washed  and  dried 
before  any  person  should  be  permitted  to  land  out  of  her; 
after  which  I  advised  separating  the  sick  from  the  healthy. 
This  was  done  by  putting  twelve  in  different  rooms  m  one 
house,  and  fourteen  in   another,  out  of  the   city ;  the  con- 

(140) 


^\^t  (Earlg  ?|istarg  of  Mtttidnt  in  Ji^ilabdp^k. 

veniences  of  the  two  houses  were  much  the  same ;  m  one  of 
them  little  care  was  taken  of  the  sick,  who  were  laid  upon 
the  same  foul  beds,  they  (contrary  to  orders)  brought  on  shore 
with  them :  the  consequence  was,  that  all  the  family  catched 
the  distemper,  and  the  landlord  died.  In  the  other,  my  direc- 
tions were  strictly  observed ;  the  sick  had  clean  clothes  and 
clean  bedding,  were  well  attended,  and  some  recovered  with- 
out doing  the  least  injury  to  any  person  that  visited  them ; 
which  confirms  observations  I  had  made  before,  that  the  con- 
tagion of  malignant  fevers  lies  in  the  air,  confined  and 
corrupted,  by  neglect  of  rags  and  other  filth  about  the  help- 
less sick,  and  not  from  their  bodies. 

"  As  these  heads  shall  be  the  subject  of  a  future  lecture,  I 
shall  at  present  only  mention  to  you  further,  a  few  of  those 
methods  which  have  preserved  individuals  from  prevailing 
diseases. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Hispaniola  have  found  the  wearing  of 
flannel  shirts  to  be  a  preservative  against  intermitting  fevers 
in  that  sickly  island ;  and  as  that  disease  is  known  to  arise 
principally  from  inhaling  a  great  quantity  of  the  humidity  of 
the  air,  I  make  no  doubt  it  would  also  be  of  use  in  preventing 
them  in  our  low,  moist,  level  countries. 

(141) 


^\t  ®atls  Jlislars  of  i&Mcmt  in  f}^ihMpkm. 

"  We  know  that  the  bark  of  sassafras  contains  many  excel- 
lent medicinal  virtues  :  my  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Peter  Franklin, 
told  me,  that  he  being,  in  the  Fall  of  the  year,  in  the  river 
IsTanticoke,  in  Maryland,  and  on  seeing  the  people  on  shore 
much  afaicted  with  intermittent  fevers,  advised  the  mariners 
of  the  ship  to  drink  freely,  by  way  of  prevention,  of  that  aro- 
matic and  antiseptic  medicine,  but  could  not  prevail  on  more 
than  half  the  company  to  do  it,  and  that  he  and  all  others  who 
took  it  enjoyed  perfect  health,  whilst  not  a  single  person  of 
the  rest  escaped  a  severe  attack  of  the  epidemic  disease :  I 
have  known  other  similar  instances,  which  it  is  needless  to 
mention,  since  this  is  remarkably  pertinent. 

"  But  I  have  many  reasons  to  expect  that  a  more  agreeable 
and  equally  certain  preventative  against  our  autumnal  fevers 
will  be  found  in  sulphurous  chalybeate  waters,  which  may  be 
readily  procured  in  most  parts  of  America,  especially  where 
those  diseases  are  most  prevalent :  a  spring  of  this  kind  at 
Gloucester,  within  a  few  miles  of  this  place,  has  been  much 
used  of  late,  has  been  so  very  serviceable  to  invalids,  it  has 
the  appearance  of  being  a  valuable  conveniency  to  the  city. 
Persons  under  various  diseases  took  lodgings  in  the  village 
last  season,  for  the  advantage  of  drinking  the  waters  at  the 

(142) 


(Karlg  J^istmrg  of  Mtbicint  in  f  ^ilatrelp^la. 

fountain  head,  and  though  the  Fall  was  more  sickly  than  has 
been  known  in  the  memory  of  man,  not  any  one  of  the  in- 
habitants near  the  Spaw,  who  drank  freely,  had  a  touch  of 
the  prevailing  disease,  wliilst  the  major  part  of  those  that 
did  not,  had  more  the  appearance  of  ghosts  than  living  crea- 
tures.    There  were  two  houses,  the  habitations  of  father  and 
son,  within  twenty  feet  of  each  other ;  the  family  of  the  father 
had  suffered  greatly  from  intermitting  fevers  the  preceding 
Fall,  and  some  of  them  continued  invalids  till  the  middle  of 
Summer,  when  they  were  prevailed  on  to  take  the  waters, 
after  which  they  daily  recovered  health,  bloom,  and  vigour,  and 
passed  the  sickly  season  without  a  complaint;  whilst  scarcely 
a  person  in  that  of  the  son,  who  did  not  take  them,  escaped 
a  severe  illness.     It  is  well  known  from  experience,  that  min- 
eral waters  are  not  only  the  most  palatable,  but  the  most  sal- 
utary parts  of  the  materia  medica;  and  that  the  effect  of  those 
which  are  pure  and  properly  impregnated  with  the  chalybeate 
principles,   strengthen   digestion,  brace   and   counteract  the 
summer's  sun,  dilute  a  thick,  putrid  bile  (the  instrument  of 
mischief  in  all  hot   climates),  and  immediately  wash  away 
putrefaction  through  the  emunctories  of  the  bowels,  skin,  or 
kidneys,  and  therefore   appear  to   be  natural  preservatives 

(143) 


against  the  effect  of  a  hot,  moist,  and  putrid  atmosphere. 
"Whether  these  waters  will  answer  my  sanguine  expectations 
or  not  must  be  left  to  the  decision  of  time ;  if  they  should  be 
found  wanting,  that  ought  not  discourage  our  further  pursuit ; 
for  since  Providence  has  furnished  every  country  with  de- 
fences for  the  human  body  against  the  inclemencies  of  heat 
and  cold,  why  should  we  question  whether  Infinite  Wisdom 
and  Goodness  has  made  equal  provision  against  all  the 
natural  injui'ies  of  our  constitution?  Experience  and  reason 
encourage  us  to  beheve  it  has,  and  that  the  means  might  be 
discovered  by  diligent  investigation  were  our  researches  equal 
to  the  task.  The  above  instances  are,  therefore,  related  to 
convince  you  that  the  prevention  of  some  of  the  epidemic 
diseases  of  America  is  not  only  a  laudable  and  rational  pur- 
suit, but  is  more  withui  the  Umits  of  human  precaution  than 
has  generally  been  imagined;  and  to  excite  your  particular 
attention  to  the  improvement  of  this  humane  and  interestuig 
part  of  your  profession,  in  which,  and  all  other  useful  under- 
takings, I  most  sincerely  wish  you  success. 

"I  am  now  to  inform  you,  gentlemen,  that  the  Managers  and 
Physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  on  seeing  the  great 
number  of  you  attending  the  School  of  Physic  in  tliis  city,  are 

(144) 


e  (Bntlyi  l^istorg  of  ^Mcim  in  |3^il»belp^m. 

of  opinion,  this  excellent  institution  likewise  affords  a  favour- 
able opportunity  of  further  improvement  to  you  in  the  prac- 
tical part  of  your  profession ;  and  being  desirous  it  should 
answer  all  the  good  purposes  intended  by  the  generous  con- 
tributors to  it,  have  allotted  me  the  task  of  giving  a  course  of 
clinical  and  meteorological  observations  in  it,  which  I  cheer- 
fully undertake  (though  the  season  of  my  life  pomts  out 
relaxation  and  retirement,  rather  than  new  incumbrances),  in 
hopes  that  remarks  on  the  many  curious  cases  that  must  daily 
occur  amongst  an  hundred  and  thirty  sick  persons  collected 
together  at  one  time  may  be  very  instructive  to  you,  I 
therefore  purpose  to  meet  you  at  stated  times  here,  and  give 
you  the  best  information  in  my  power  of  the  nature  and 
treatment  of  chronical  diseases,  and  of  the  proper  manage- 
ment of  ulcers,  wounds,  and  fractures.  I  shall  show  you  all 
the  operations  of  surgery,  and  endeavour,  from  the  experience 
of  thu'ty  years,  to  introduce  you  to  a  familiar  acquamtance 
with  the  acute  diseases  of  your  country ;  in  order  to  which, 
I  shall  put  up  a  complete  meteorological  apparatus,  and 
endeavour  to  inform  you  of  all  the  known  properties  of  the 
atmosphere  which  surrounds  us,  and  the  effects  its  frequent 
variations  produce  on  animal  bodies ;  and  confirm  the  doctrine, 

19  ( 145  ) 


by  an  exact  register  of  the  weather,  and  of  the  prevailmg  dis- 
eases, both  here  and  in  the  neighbouring  provinces ;  to  which 
I  shall  add  all  the  interesting  observations  which  may  occur 
in  private  practice,  and  sincerely  wish  it  may  be  in  my  power 
to  do  them  to  your  satisfaction. 

"I  have,  likewise,  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  Dr. 
Smith*  has  promised  to  go  through  a  course  of  experimental 
philosophy  in  the  college,  for  your  instruction  on  Pneumatics, 
Hydraulics,  and  Mechanics,  which  will  be  of  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage to  a  ready  comprehension  of  the  meteorological  lec- 
tures, and  other  parts  of  your  Medicinal  studies,  and  lay  you 
under  the  highest  obligations  to  that  learned  professor." 

Connected  with  Dr.  Bond  in  this  work  of  instruction  must 
also  be  mentioned  the  venerated  names  of  his  associates, 
Cadwalader,  Evans,  Redman,  and  Morgan,  all  of  whom 
entered  heartily  into  the  plan  of  clinical  teaching. 

The  fee  arising  from  the  privilege  granted  to  students  of 
attending  the  hospital  practice  was  at  this  period  increased 
from  six  pistoles  to  a  guinea,  to  be  applied  to  the  promotion 
of  the  medical  library,  which  now  comprises  a  large  propor- 

[*The  Provost.] 
(146) 


e  (Enrlp  l^istorg  of  fdtbicmt  in  fS^tlaltrelp^ta. 

tion  of  the  most  valuable  ancient  and  modem  writers  on  the 
science  of  medicine,  together  with  many  rare  works  on  botany, 
and  the  different  branches  of  natural  history,  and  stands  a 
noble  monument  to  the  zeal,  hberaUty,  and  love  of  science  of 
her  medical  men. 

To  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  Philadelphia  is  much  in- 
debted for  the  reputation  which  she  has  enjoyed  for  medical 
and  surgical  teaching.  From  her  halls  in  later  years  ema- 
nated the  valuable  practical  lessons  of  Kuhn,  and  the  eloquent 
instructions  of  Kush,  while  Shippen,  Jones,  Physick,  and 
Wistar,  names  among  the  brightest  and  most  revered  in  early 
American  surgery,  found  there  a  field  for  practice,  and  op- 
portunities to  disseminate  widely  sound  surgical  principles. 
Oldest  as  she  is  in  our  practical  schools,  she  can  boast  of 
having  aided  largely  in  the  progress  and  improvement  of 
medical  science  in  America.  In  her  well-regulated  wards, 
students  have  always  learned,  both  by  precept  and  practice, 
that  the  mmor  duties  of  a  sm'geon,  and  the  common  accidents 
to  which  the  human  family  are  exposed,  deserve  most  of  their 
attention,  and  in  her  theatre  doubtful  operative  schemes,  rash 
experiments,  or  mere  bloody  exploits  have  ever  been  con- 
demned, while,  at  the  same  time,  her  records  show,  that  bold 

(147) 


S^l^e  (S^xIq  Jltstors  of  MttfUim  in  f^^ikbelp^m. 

achievements,  when  founded  on  well-established  principles, 
have  frequently  been  witnessed,  and,  at  times,  originated 
there. 

FOUNDATION  OF  MEDICAL  SCHOOLS. 

Philadelphia  has  the  high  honour  of  giving  birth  to  the 
first  medical  school  in  the  !N^ew  "World,  and  the  scheme,  we 
feel  proud  to  say,  originated  with,  and  was  carried  into  execu- 
tion by,  one  of  our  own  town's-people.  To  the  Academy  of 
Philadelphia,  afterwards  known  as  the  College,  and  now  bear- 
ing the  title  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  belongs  the 
credit  of  having  opened  this  new  path  of  Uberal  study.  As 
the  pioneer  in  the  great  field  of  medical  instruction,  she  could 
not  be  passed  over  without  some  notice  by  the  medical  an- 
nahst,  and  when,  in  addition  to  this,  we  consider  the  public 
spirit,  learning,  and  ability  of  her  founder  and  professors,  the 
distinguished  position  which  she  has  so  long  held,  the  honour 
her  teachers  have  brought  upon  the  American  name,  the  in- 
fluence which  she  has  exerted  upon  the  profession,  and  the 
important  benefits  which  the  whole  country  have  derived 
from  her,  some  details  of  the  rise  of  this  gi'eat  school  may  not 
here  be  misplaced. 

Previous  to  the  formation  of  the  medical  department  of  the 

(148) 


College  of  Pliiladelphia,  the  city,  as  we  have  shown,  could 
boast  of  many  well  educated  and,  indeed,  eminent  practi- 
tioners, and  as  we  are  told  by  Morgan,*  was  already  the  resort 
"  of  a  great  number  of  pupils  from  the  neighbouring  parts, 
to  learn  the  arts  of  Physic  and  Surgery."  The  best  medi- 
cal education,  however,  in  America  was  then  but  lame  and 
insufficient.  Under  some  skilful  surgeon  or  physician  it  was 
customary  for  the  student  to  enter  as  an  apprentice,  in  order 
to  learn  their  mode  of  practice,  and  this,  together  with  casual 
conversations  and  intercourse  with  one  another  and  profes- 
sional men,  and  a  reciprocal  communication  of  sentiment  and 
observation,  together  with  reading  such  authors  as  they  could 
procure  on  the  various  subjects  of  our  science,  made  the  sum 
total  of  it.  Such  was  the  state  of  medical  education  in  1762, 
when  Dr.  Shippen  arrived  from  Europe,  who  soon  afterwards 
commenced  his  demonstrative  lectures  upon  Anatomy  with 
dissections.  These  lectures  he  repeated  annually  till  the  year 
1765,  when  Dr.  John  Morgan  returned. 

This   gentleman  had  matured   a  project  for  connecting  a 
medical  department  with  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  had 

*  A  Discourse  upon  the  Institution  of  Medical  Schools  in  America,    p.  30. 

( 149 ) 


e  (Earig  J^istorg  of  l^ebinne  in  |l%ilabelp%ia. 

secured  in  favour  of  it  some  influential  friends  of  the  institu- 
tion, Tvho  at  that  time  were  in  England.  Among  these  were 
Thomas  Penn,  the  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania,  James  Ham- 
ilton, and  the  Rev.  ]Mr.  Peters,  former  members  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  College,  fi'om  all  of  whom  he  brought  let- 
ters advising  the  estabhshment  of  medical  professorships,  and 
recommending  the  doctor  himself  to  their  choice  as  one  ol 
the  proposed  faculty.  The  followmg  is  the  letter  from  Mr. 
Penn: — 

Gentlemen: 

"  Dr.  Morgan  has  laid  before  me  a  proposal  for  introducing  new  professorships 
into  the  college,  for  the  instruction  of  such  as  shall  incline  to  go  into  the  study 
and  practice  of  physic  and  surgery,  as  well  as  the  several  occupations  attending 
upon  these  necessary  and  useful  arts.  He  thinks  his  scheme,  if  patronized  by 
the  Trustees,  will  at  present  give  reputation  and  strength  to  the  institution,  and 
though  it  may  for  some  time  occasion  a  small  expense,  yet  after  a  little  while  it 
will  gradually  support  itself,  and  even  make  considerable  additions  to  the 
Academy  funds. 

"Dr.  Morc^an  has  employed  his  time  in  an  assiduous  search  after  knowledge, 
in  all  the  branches  necessary  for  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  has  gained  such 
esteem  and  love  from  persons  of  the  first  rank  in  it,  that  as  they  very  much  ap- 
prove of  his  plan,  they  will  from  time  to  time,  as  he  assures  us,  give  him  their 
countenance  and  assistance  in  the  execution  of  it. 

"  We  are  made  acquainted  with  what  is  proposed  to  be  taught,  and  how  lectures 

(150) 


t  €»tl|i  J^btorg  of  iSetridne  in  pi^ilatrdp^ia. 

may  be  adopted  by  you ;  and  since  the  like  systems  have  brought  much  advantage 
to  every  place  where  they  have  been  received,  and  such  learned  and  eminent  men 
speak  favourably  of  the  doctor's  plan,  I  could  not  but  in  the  most  kind  manner 
recommend  him  to  you,  and  desire  that  he  may  be  well  received,  and  what  he  has 
to  offer  to  be  taken  with  all  becoming  respect  and  expedition  into  your  most 
serious  consideration ;  and  if  it  shall  be  thought  necessary  to  go  into  it,  and 
thereupon  to  open  professorships,  that  he  may  be  taken  into  your  service. 

"When  you  have  heard  him,  and  duly  considered  what  he  has  to  lay  before  you, 
you  will  be  best  able  to  judge  in  what  manner  you  can  serve  the  public,  the  insti- 
tution, and  the  particular  design  now  recommended  to  you. 

"  I  am,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"  THOMAS  PENISr. 

"  London,  February  15th,  1765. 

"  To  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia." 

The  letters  brought  by  Dr.  Morgan,  together  with  his  plan 
"  of  opening  medical  schools  under  the  patronage  and  govern- 
ment of  the  CoUege,"  were  laid  before  the  Trustees  on  the  3d 
of  May,  1765.  The  project  met  their  unanimous  approval, 
and  Dr.  Morgan  was  elected  to  the  professorship  of  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic,  for  which  he  had  applied. 

The  official  announcement  of  this  appointment  was  as 
follows : — 

(151) 


(farlg  J|ist0rs  of  iHebinnt  in  JJ^ilatrelpya. 

"  College  of  Philadelphia,  May  3d,  1765. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  held  this  day,  John  Morgan, 
of  this  city,  M.D.,  corresponding  member  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy of  Surgery  at  Paris,  Licentiate  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Physicians  at  London,  and  member  of  the  Arcadian  (Belles 
Lettres)  Society  at  Rome,  was  unanimously  elected  Professor 
of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  College  of 
Philadelphia.  At  the  ensuing  commencement  he  will  deliver 
an  address  (which  will  be  soon  afterwards  published),  in  order 
to  show  the  expediency  of  instituting  medical  schools  in  this 
seminary,  and  containing  the  plan  proposed  for  the  same ;  in 
which  there  will  be  room  for  receiving  professors  duly  quali- 
fied to  read  lectures  in  the  other  branches  of  medicine,  who 
may  be  desu'ous  of  uniting  to  carry  this  laudable  design  into 
execution.  Dr.  Morgan's  plan  has  been  wannly  recom- 
mended to  the  Trustees  by  persons  of  eminence  in  England, 
and  his  known  abilities  and  great  industry  give  the  utmost 
reason  to  hope  it  will  be  successful,  and  tend  much  to  the 
public  utility." 

At  the  collegiate  commencement,  which  took  place  on  the 
30th  of  May,  he  delivered  his  "  Discourse  upon  the  Institu- 
tion of  Medical  Schools  m  America."     This  address,  which 

(152) 


he  had  carefully  prepared  while  in  Paris,  had  been  submitted 
before  his  return  to  Drs.  Fothergill,  Hunter,  and  Watson,  of 
London,  as  well  as  to  the  criticism  of  his  friend  and  fellow- 
traveller,  Samuel  Powel,  Esq.,  a  wealthy  and  distinguished 
native  of  our  city,  who  aided  materially  in  carrymg  out  his 
projects.     In  this   able  production  he  first   states  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  knowledge  which  compose  the  science  of 
medicine,  and  the  order  in  which  they  should  be  studied.     He 
then  dwells  upon  the  importance  of  preliminary  education, 
and  urges  that  "  young  men  ought  to  come  well  prepared  for 
the  study  of  medicme,  by  havmg  their  minds  enriched  with 
all  the  aids  they  can  receive  from  the  languages,  mathematics, 
and  all  the  hberal  arts."     A  brief  general  view  of  the  state 
of  physic,  as  hitherto  practised  in  America,  and  the  obstacles 
to  its  study  are  then  given,  with  forcible  arguments  in  favour 
of  instituting  medical  schools  among  us.     The  many  circum- 
stances conspiring  to  invite  and  encourage  so  important  an 
undertaking,  among  which  he  enumerates  the  eminent  prac- 
titioners who  adorn  our  city,  the  existence  of  the  hospital 
which  had  been  established  ten  years  before,  the  flourishing 
state  of  Uterature,  the  favourable  central  situation  of  Phila- 
delphia to  the  colonies,  and  the  great  growth  of  all  the  latter 

20  (153) 


e  (Saris  J|ist0rs  of  l^ebinne  in  p^ilabelp^m. 

in  population,  are  then  all  alluded  to,  and  after  expatiating  on 
the  advantages  which  are  to  be  expected  from  the  proposed 
Institution  to  students  of  medicine,  to  the  College,  to  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Province,  as  well  as  to  the  neighbour- 
ing colonies,  he  addresses  himself  to  the  students  present,  in 
order  to  animate  them  in  their  studies,  and  closes  with  an 
appeal  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  recommending  the 
medical  school  to  their  patronage.  "Perhaps,"  says  Dr. 
Morgan  in  this  address,  "  this  Medical  Institution,  the  first  of 
its  kind  in  America,  though  small  in  the  beginning,  may 
receive  a  constant  increase  of  strength,  and  annually  exert 
new  vigour.  It  may  collect  a  number  of  young  persons,  of 
more  than  ordinary  abilities,  and  so  improve  their  knowledge 
as  to  spread  its  reputation  to  distant  parts.  By  sending  these 
abroad  duly  qualified,  or  by  exciting  an  emulation  amongst 
men  of  parts  and  literature,  it  may  give  birth  to  other  useful 
Institutions  of  a  similar  nature,  or  occasional  rise,  by  its 
example,  to  numerous  societies  of  difierent  kinds,  calculated  to 
spread  the  light  of  knowledge  through  the  whole  American 
Continent,  wherever  inhabited." 

•  •  «  •  • 

"  Oh !  let  it  never  be  said  in  this  city,  or  in  this  Province, 

(154) 


t  C^rlg  J^istorg  of  Ittebidne  in  )l^iI»bHp^t». 


so  happy  in  its  climate  and  its  soil,  where  commerce  has 
long  flourished  and  plenty  smiled,  that  science,  the  amiable 
daughter  of  liberty  and  sister  of  opulence,  droops  her  languid 
head,  or  follows  behind  with  a  slow  unequal  pace.  I  pro- 
nounce with  confidence  this  shall  not  be  the  case ;  but  under 
your  protection  every  useful  kind  of  learning  shall  here  fix 
a  favourite  seat,  and  shine  forth  in  meridian  splendom*.  To 
accomplish  which  may  every  heart  and  every  hand  be  firmly 

united." 

Hoc  opus,  hoc  stadium  parvi  properemus  et  ampli 
Si  patria  volunius,  si  nobis  vivere  cari.    Hor.  Ejpist. 

The  discourse  was  pronounced  at  two  sittings,  on  the 
30th  and  the  31st  of  the  month.  The  place  selected  for  its 
delivery  was  the  old  Academy  on  Fourth  Street  near  Arch. 
The  speaker  appeared  in  a  professor's  robe,  and  a  large  con- 
course of  leading  citizens,  including  the  Governor,  assembled 
to  listen  to  it.  Franklin's  newspaper,  in  noticing  it,  says : 
"  As  it  is  soon  to  be  printed,  we  would  not  wish  to  antici- 
pate the  judgment  of  the  public,  and  shall  only  say,  the 
perspicuity  with  which  it  was  written  and  spoken  drew  the 
close  attention  of  the  audience,  and  particularly  of  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  Faculty  of  Physic." 

(155) 


t  (Bntl^  Histors  of  i&tbkim  in  jp^ilsb^Ip^ia;. 

On  the  23d  of  September  of  the  same  year  (1765),  Dr. 
Shippen  addressed  the  following  communication  to  the 
Trustees : — 

"  To  The  Trustees  of  the  College,  etc. 

"  The  institution  of  medical  schools  in  this  country  has  been  a  favourite  object 
of  my  attention  for  seven  years  past,  and  it  is  three  years  since  I  proposed  the 
expediency  and  practicability  of  teaching  medicine  in  all  its  branches  in  this  city, 
in  a  public  oration,  read  at  the  State  House,  introductory  to  my  first  course  of 
anatomy. 

"  I  should  long  since  have  sought  the  patronage  of  the  Trustees  of  this  College, 
but  waited  to  be  joined  by  Dr.  Morgan,  to  whom  I  first  communicated  my  plan 
in  England,  and  who  promised  to  unite  with  me  in  every  scheme  we  might  think 
necessary  for  the  execution  of  so  important  a  point.  I  am  pleased,  however,  to 
hear  that  you  gentlemen,  on  being  applied  to  by  Dr.  Morgan,  have  taken  the 
plan  under  your  protection,  and  have  appointed  that  gentleman  Professor  of 
Medicine. 

"A  professorship  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  will  be  gratefully  accepted  by, 
gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"  WILLIAM  SHIPPEN,  Jk. 
"Philadelphia,  17th  September,  1765." 

Which  letter  being  read,  the  Trustees,  by  an  unanimous 
vote,  appointed  Dr.  Shippen  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Sur- 
gery. 

(156) 


©fee  (Earls  ^hiot^s  of  ffliebidne  in  |i^ilabdp%ia. 

The  courses  in  the  school  thus  organized  were  soon  after- 
wards regularly  commenced,  and  the  advertisement  announ- 
cing this  first  collegiate  course  of  medical  instruction  in 
America  is  annexed,  as  worthy  of  preservation,  and  as  show- 
ing the  scheme  of  instruction  proposed. 

"As  the  necessity  of  cultivating  medical  knowledge  in 
America  is  allowed  by  all,  it  is  with  pleasure  we  inform  the 
public  that  courses  of  lectures  on  two  of  the  most  important 
branches  of  that  useful  science,  viz..  Anatomy  and  Materia 
Medica,  will  be  delivered  this  winter  in  Philadelphia.  We 
have  great  reason,  therefore,  to  hope  that  gentlemen  of  the 
faculty  will  encourage  the  design  by  recommending  it  to  their 
pupils,  that  pupils  themselves  will  be  glad  of  such  an  oppor- 
tunity of  improvement ;  and  that  the  public  will  think  it  an 
object  worthy  their  attention  and  patronage.  In  order  to 
render  these  courses  the  more  extensively  useful,  we  intend  to 
introduce  into  them  as  much  of  the  theory  and  practice  of 
physic,  of  pharmacy,  chemistry,  and  surgery  as  can  conve- 
niently be  admitted.  From  all  this,  together  with  an  attend- 
ance on  the  practice  of  the  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  the  students  wiU  be  able  to  prosecute 
their  studies  with  such  advantages  as  will  qualify  them  to 

(157) 


e  (Earlg  l^istors  of  iSebidne  in  |l^il»trelp(l». 

practice  hereafter  with  more  satisfaction  to  themselves,  and 
benefit  to  the  community.  The  particular  advertisements 
inserted  below,  specify  the  time  when  these  lectures  are  to 
commence,  and  contain  the  various  subjects  to  be  treated  of 
in  each  course,  and  the  terms  on  which  the  pupils  are  to  be 
admitted. 

"WILLIAM  SHIPPED,  JuN.,  M.D., 
"Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia. 

"  JOHK  MOKGAN",  M.D.,  F.K.S., 

"  And  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia. 

"  Dr.  Shippen's  course  of  anatomical  lectures  will  begin  on 
Thursday,  the  14th  of  i^ovember,  1765 ;  it  will  consist  of 
about  sixty  lectures,  in  which  the  situation,  figure,  and  struc- 
ture of  all  parts  of  the  human  body  will  be  demonstrated  on 
the  fresh  subject,  their  respective  uses  explained,  and  their 
diseases,  with  the  indications  and  methods  of  cure,  briefly 
treated  of;  all  the  necessary  operations  on  Surgery  will  be 
performed,  a  course  of  bandages  given ;  and  the  whole  con- 
cluded with  a  few  plain  and  general  directions  in  the  practice 
of  midwifery.     Each  person  to  pay  six  pistoles. 

"  Those  who  incline  to  attend  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 

(158) 


(Earig  gistors  of  flJebidne  in  ^^ilabtlp^a. 

and  have  the  benefit  of  the  curious  anatomical  plates  and 
casts  there,  to  pay  six  pistoles  to  that  useful  charity. 

"A  course  of  lectures  on  the  Materia  Medica  by  John 
Morgan,  M.D.,  etc.     Price  four  pistoles. 

"  This  course  will  commence  on  Monday,  the  18th  day  of 
!N"ovember,  and  be  given  three  times  a  week  at  the  College,  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  till  finished,  which  will  last 
between  three  and  four  months. 

"  To  render  these  lectures  as  instructive  as  possible  to  stu- 
dents of  physic,  the  Doctor  proposes,  in  the  course  of  them, 
to  give  some  useful  observations  on  medicine  in  general,  and 
the  proper  manner  of  conducting  the  study  of  physic.  The 
authors  to  be  read  in  the  Materia  Medica  will  be  pointed  out. 
The  various  substances  made  use  of  in  medicine  will  be  re- 
duced under  classes  suited  to  the  principal  indications  in  the 
cure  of  diseases.  Similar  virtues  in  different  plants,  and  their 
comparative  powers  will  be  treated  of,  and  an  inquiry  made 
into  the  different  methods  which  have  been  used  m  discovering 
the  qualities  of  medicines ;  the  vh-tues  of  the  most  efl3.cacious 
will  be  particularly  insisted  upon ;  the  manner  of  preparmg 
and  combming  them  will  be  shown  by  some  instructive  lessons 
upon  pharmaceutic  chemistry.     This  wiQ  open  to  students  a 

(159) 


(Karls  JJistorg  of  tAt^icint  in  pilatrelp^ia. 

general  idea  of  both  chemistry  and  pharmacy.  To  prepare 
them  more  effectually  for  understanding  the  art  of  prescrib- 
ing with  elegance  and  propriety,  if  time  allows,  it  is  proposed 
to  include  in  this  course  some  critical  lectures  upon  the  chief 
preparations  contained  in  the  Dispensatories  of  the  Royal 
Colleges  of  Physicians  at  London  and  Edinburg.  The  whole 
will  be  illustrated  with  many  useful  practical  observations 
on  Diseases,  Diet,  and  Medicines. 

"  'No  person  will  be  admitted  without  a  ticket  for  the  whole 
course.  Those  who  propose  to  attend  this  course  are  desired 
to  apply  to  the  Doctor  at  least  a  week  before  the  lectures 
begin.  A  dollar  will  be  required  of  each  student  to  matricu^ 
late,  which  will  be  applied  to  purchase  books  for  a  medical 
library  in  the  College,  for  the  benefit  of  the  medical  stu- 
dents." 

Much  discrepancy  of  opinion  has  existed  as  to  whom  is 
due  the  honour  of  founding  our  medical  school,  and  usually, 
though  erroneously,  it  has  been  awarded  to  Dr.  Shippen.  It 
is  true  that  introductory  to  his  first  course  of  lectures  on 
Anatomy,  deUvered  in  the  State  House  in  1762,  he  spoke  of 
the  institution  of  a  medical  school  in  Philadelphia,  to  which 
he  then  declared  that  a  course  of  anatomy  should  be  mtro- 

(160) 


ductory.  The  use  of  such  an  institution,  and  the  practica- 
bility and  propriety  of  it  at  that  time,  were  expressed  in  these 
words : — 

"All  these  (alluding  to  the  disadvantages  that  then 
attended  the  study  of  physic,  etc.)  may,  and  I  hope  will  soon 
be  remedied  by  a  medical  school  in  America ;  and  what  place 
in  America  so  fit  for  such  a  school  as  Philadelphia,  that  bids 
so  fair  by  its  rapid  growth  to  be  soon  the  metropolis  of  all  the 
continent  ?  Such  a  school  is  properly  begun  by  an  anatomical 
class,  and  for  our  encouragement,  let  us  remember  that  the 
famous  school  of  physic  at  Edinburg,  which  is  now  the  first  in 
Europe,  has  not  had  a  beginning  fifty  years,  and  was  begun 
by  the  anatomical  lectures  of  Dr.  Monro,  who  is  still  living." 

But  on  turning  to  the  Discourse  of  Dr.  Morgan,  delivered 
before  the  Trustees  in  1765,  we  find  he  awards  full  credit  to 
Shippen  for  these  efforts.  He  says :  "  It  is  with  the  highest 
satisfaction  I  am  informed  from  Dr.  Shippen,  junior,  that  in 
an  address  to  the  pubhc  as  introductory  to  his  first  anato- 
mical course,  he  proposed  some  hints  of  a  plan  for  giving 
medical  lectures  amongst  us.  But  I  do  not  learn  that  he 
recommended  at  all  a  collegiate  undertaking  of  this  kind. 
What  led  me  to  it  was  the  obvious  utility  that  would  attend 

21  (161) 


(garlg  J^istors  of  iSebtrme  in  f  yiabelp^ia. 

it,  and  the  desire  I  had  of  presenting,  as  a  tribute  of  gratitude 
to  my  Alma  Mater,  a  full  and  enlarged  plan  for  the  institution 
of  medicine,  in  all  its  branches,  in  this  seminary,  where  I  had 
part  of  my  education,  being  amongst  the  first  sons  who 
shared  in  its  public  honours.*  I  was  further  induced  to  it 
from  a  consideration  that  private  schemes  of  propagating 
knowledge  are  unstable  in  their  nature,  and  the  cultivation  of 
useful  learning  can  only  be  effectually  promoted  under  those 
who  are  patrons  of  science,  and  under  the  authority  and 
direction  of  men  incorporated  for  the  improvement  of  Htera- 
ture." 

He  then  goes  on  to  state,  that  should  the  Trustees  think 
proper  to  found  a  professorship  of  anatomy,  "  Dr.  Shippen 
having  been  concerned  already  in  teaching  that  branch  of 
medical  science,  is  a  circumstance  favourable  to  our  wishes. 
Few  here  can  be  ignoi'ant  of  the  great  opportunities  he  has 
had  abroad  of  qualif}dng  himself  in  anatomy,  and  that  he  has 
already  given  three  courses  thereof  in  this  city,  and  designs 
to  enter  upon  a  fourth  course  next  winter." 

From  these  statements  of  the  rivals  for  the  honour,  there 

*  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  class  that  graduated  in  the  Collegiate  Depart- 
ment of  the  College,  1757. 

(162) 


e  €»tls  J^istar^  of  fAMcim  in  jp^ilalrdp^ia. 

can  be  no  doubt  about  their  respective  claims.  Dr.  Shippen 
introduced  and  successfully  taught  a  single  branch  of  medi- 
cine in  1762,  but  took  no  steps  for  the  establishment  of  a 
medical  institution  upon  a  permanent  basis.  Dr.  Morgan 
arrived  at  home  in  April,  1765,  and  in  the  following  month 
proposed  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  his  plan  for  trans- 
planting medical  science  into  their  seminary,  and  boldly  urged 
upon  them  a  full  and  enlarged  scheme  for  the  institution  of 
medicine  in  all  its  branches. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  Dr.  Morgan  must  be  considered  as 
the  founder  of  the  first  medical  school  in  America.  His  aim 
was  to  establish  one  similar  to  that  of  Edinburg,  and  he 
engaged  in  it,  as  we  have  seen,  with  all  the  industry  and 
abihty  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  so  important  an 
object.  Dr.  Shippen  was  a  valuable  and  most  useful  adjunct, 
and  much  credit  is  due  to  him  for  his  vigorous  prosecution  of 
anatomical  pursuits,  his  demonstrations  on  midwifery,  and  the 
zeal  and  ability  which  he  brought  to  aid  in  the  difficult  under- 
taking.* 

*  Dr.  John  Kedmau  Coxe  has  kindly  placed  in  my  hands  some  letters  from  the 
venerable  Dr.  Redman  to  Dr.  Morgan,  then  in  Europe,  from  one  of  which  I 
extract  the  following  : — 

(163) 


(garls  l^istorg  of  iSetrldne  in  JJ^ilatrelp^m. 

In  May,  1767,  two  years  after  the  school  had  been  m  opera- 
tion, rules  were  adopted  in  relation  to  the  medical  honours  to 
be  conferred,  which  were  announced  as  follows : — * 


"Philadelphia,  March  13, 1764. 

"  This  leads  me  to  make  some  reflections  on  your  intended  plan,  which  I  still 
approve,  as  far  as  useful  and  practicable.  As  to  that  part  of  it  which  relates  to 
instruction  by  lectures,  etc.,  it  is  highly  praiseworthy,  and  should  by  all  means 
be  attempted,  and  you'll  thereby  deserve  much  honour  for  so  important  a  service 
to  this  part  of  the  world,  and  will  no  doubt  obtain  it,  and  will  have  just  reason 
to  think  yourself  upon  every  good  principle  justly  entitled  thereto,  for  your  pains 
and  expense,  and  enjoy  a  conscious  pleasure  of  having  endeavoured  to  serve 
mankind  in  their  best  temporal  interests." 

In  a  letter  written  from  London,  Kov.  10th,  1764,  to  his  former  preceptor.  Dr. 
Cullen,  Morgan  says,  "My  scheme  for  instituting  lectures,  you  will  hereafter 
know  more  of.  It  is  not  prudent  to  broach  designs  prematurely,  and  mine  are 
not  yet  fully  ripe  for  execution." 

In  a  publication  made  by  Dr.  Morgan,  in  1781— sixteen  years  after  its  first 
establishment— he  asserts  himself  to  have  been  "the  original  founder,"  and  in 
the  same  year.  Dr.  Eush,  than  whom  no  one  had  a  better  opportunity  of  know- 
int',  speaks  of  Morgan  as  "  a  man  to  whom  America  is  indebted  for  the  founda- 
tion of  her  first  Medical  School." 


*  Five  of  the  six  prominent  physicians  of  Philadelphia  were  Trustees  of  the 
College  at  this  period,  and  they  united  with  the  Provost,  Dr.  William  Smith,  and 
the  two  newly  made  medical  professors,  in  digesting  this  code. 

(164) 


"College  of  Philadelphta,  July  29th,  1767. 
"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  held  the  twelfth  day  of 
May  last,  it  being  moved  to  the  Board,  that  conferring  the 
usual  Degrees  in  Physic  on  deserving  students  would  con- 
tribute greatly  to  encourage  the  medical  school,  lately  insti- 
tuted in  this  seminary,  promote  emulation  among  the  students, 
and  tend  to  put  the  Practice  of  Physic  on  a  more  respectable 
footing  in  America ;  the  motion  was  unanimously  agreed  to, 
and  the  following  course  of  studies  and  quahfications,  after 
mature  dehberation,  was  fixed  on  and  enacted  as  requisite  to 
entitle  physical  students  to  their  different  degrees,  viz : — 

"roR  A  bacheloe's  degree  rs"  physic. 

"  1.  It  is  requu-ed  that  such  students  as  have  not  taken  a 
degree  in  any  College  shall,  before  admission  to  a  Degree  in 
Physic,  satisfy  the  Trustees  and  Professors  of  the  College, 
concerning  their  knowledge  in  the  Latm  Tongue,  and  in  such 
branches  of  Mathematics,  Il^atural  and  Experimental  Philo- 
sophy, as  shall  be  judged  requisite  to  a  Medical  Education. 

"  2.  Each  student  shall  attend  at  least  one  course  of  lec- 
tures in  Anatomy,  Materia  Medica,  Chemistry,  the  Theory 
and  Practice  of  Physic,  and  one  course  of  Clynical  lectures, 

(165) 


<£arls  l^istorg  of  fAMcint  in  |i^tlabelp^i». 

and  shall  attend  the  practice  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  for 
one  year ;  and  may  then  be  admitted  to  a  public  examination 
for  a  Bachelor's  Degree  in  Physic ;  provided,  that  in  a  pre- 
vious private  examination  by  the  Medical  Trustees  and  Pro- 
fessors, and  such  other  Trustees  or  Professors  as  choose  to 
attend,  such  students  shall  be  judged  fit  to  undergo  a  pubhc 
examination  without  attending  any  more  courses  in  the 
Medical  School. 

"  3.  It  is  further  required  that  each  student,  previous  to  the 
Bachelor's  Degree,  shall  have  served  a  sufficient  apprentice- 
ship to  some  respectable  practitioner  in  Physic,  and  to  make 
it  appear  that  he  has  a  general  knowledge  in  Pharmacy. 

"  QUALIFICATIOlirS   FOR  A   DOCTOR'S   DEGREE   IN  PHYSIC. 

"  It  is  required  for  this  Degree  that  at  least  three  years 
shall  have  intervened  from  the  time  of  taking  the  Bachelor's 
Degree,  and  that  the  candidate  be  full  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  and  that  he  shall  write  and  defend  a  Thesis  pubHckly  in 
College,  unless  he  should  be  beyond  seas,  or  so  remote  on  the 
Continent  of  America  as  not  to  be  able  to  attend  without 
manifest  inconvenience ;  in  which  case,  on  sending  a  written 

(166) 


Thesis,  such  as  shall  be  approved  by  the  College,  the  candi- 
date may  receive  his  Doctor's  Degree,  but  his  Thesis  shall  be 
printed  and  published  at  his  own  expense. 

"fees  to  peoeessors. 

"  'No  Professor  to  take  more  than  six  Pistoles  for  a  sino'le 
course,  in  any  of  the  above  branches,  and  after  two  courses, 
any  student  may  attend  as  many  more  as  he  pleases  gratis." 

"  This  scheme  of  a  Medical  Education  is  proposed  to  be 
on  as  extensive  and  hberal  a  plan,  as  in  the  most  respectable 
European  seminaries,  and  the  utmost  provision  is  made  for 
rendeiing  a  Degree,  a  real  mark  of  honour,  the  reward  only  of 
distinguished  Learning  and  Abilities.  As  it  is  calculated  to 
promote  the  benefit  of  mankind,  by  the  improvement  of  the 
beneficent  art  of  Healing,  and  to  afibrd  an  opportunity  to 
students  of  acquiring  a  regular  medical  education  in  America, 
it  is  hoped  it  will  meet  with  public  encouragement,  more 
especially  as  the  central  situation  of  this  city,  the  estabUshed 
character  of  the  Medical  Professors,  the  advantages  of  the 
College,  and  the  pubhc  hospital  all  conspire  to  promise  suc- 
cess to  the  design. 

"For  the  ftirther  advantage  of  medical  students,  a  course 

(167) 


of  lectures  will  be  given  by  the  Professor  of  !N^atural  and 
Experimental  Philosophy  each  winter  in  the  College,  where 
there  is  an  elegant  and  compleat  apparatus  provided  for  that 
purpose;  and  where  medical  students  may  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  compleating  themselves  in  languages,  or  any  parts 
of  the  Mathematics  at  their  leisure  hours. 

"  Agreeably  to  the  foregoing  regulations  the  public  is  now 
informed,  that  on  the  first  Monday  in  November  next,  the 
following  courses  of  lectures  will  be  begun  by  the  respective 
Professors,  viz: — 

"  A  compleat  course  of  lectures  on  Anatomy,  to  which  will 
be  added  all  the  operations  in  surgery,  and  the  mode  of  apply- 
ing all  the  necessary  bandages,  etc.  A  course  of  lectures  on 
the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  which  will  be  preceded 
by  a  general  explanation  of  the  theory  of  Chemistry,  accom- 
panied with  some  necessary  operations,  to  render  a  knowledge 
of  this  science  easy  and  familiar  to  the  inquisitive  student. 

"  A  course  of  clynical  lectures,  to  be  delivered  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  wherein  the  treatment  of  both  acute  and 
chronic  diseases  will  be  exemplified  in  the  cases  of  a  great 
number  of  patients. 

"  Each  course  of  lectures  will  be  finished  by  the  beginning 

(168) 


(Karlg  Bistors  of  Webidne  in  f  ^ilatrelpfeia. 

of  May,  in  time  for  those  who  intend  to  offer  as  candidates 
for  a  Degree  in  Physic,  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  exami- 
nation before  the  commencement  of  the  ensuing  year. 

"  Such  gentlemen  as  mcline  to  attend  the  above  courses  are 
desu-ed  to  apply  some  days  before  the  Lectures  begm,  to  fur- 
nish themselves  with  the  necessary  tickets  of  admission." 

Bachelor's  degrees  were  found  by  experience  not  to  answer 
the  end  proposed  by  them.  Of  the  many  who  had  taken  the 
degree  of  Bachelor,  very  few  returned  to  apply  for  the  high- 
est honom-  in  medicine,  and  in  consequence  the  system  of 
granting  Bachelorships  was  aboUshed,  and  from  ^N'ovember 
17th,  1789,  the  degree  of  M.D.  only  was  recognized. 

Dr.  Morgan  had  much  doubt  about  the  propriety  of  con- 
ferring a  Bachelor's  degree  originally,  and  consulted  CuUen 
and  other  of  his  old  teachers  in  regard  to  it.  Dr.  Eush,  who 
was  then  in  Edinburg,  was  also  consulted  upon  the  matter, 
and  m  a  letter- to  Dr.  Morgan,  dated  April  27,  1768,  says : — 

"  I  have  read  the  laws  you  have  established  with  regard  to 
the  conferring  of  Degrees  in  Physic,  and  have  shown  them 
to  several  gentlemen  in  this  place,  who,  upon  the  whole,  ap- 
prove of  them.     Some  have  thought  that  conferring  Bache- 

22  (169) 


lor's  degrees  in  Physic  would  tend  to  depreciate  their  value, 
as  very  few  young  men  would  ever  have  leisure  enough  after 
they  begin  to  practice  to  return  a  second  time  to  the  College 
in  order  to  write  a  Thesis,  or  go  through  the  other  necessary 
forms  previous  to  their  being  admitted  '  Doctors  of  Physic' 
On  this  account  they  have  proposed  that  no  one  shall  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  physical  honours  of  the  College,  until  they  have 
studied  there  two  or  three  years,  and  afterwards  published  a 
Thesis.  But  you  who  are  on  the  spot  can  judge  best  of  the 
propriety  of  such  a  regulation." 

The  requirements  for  graduation  were  also  at  this  time 
somewhat  changed.  The  principal  of  these  changes  were, 
that  the  candidate  should  have  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years ;  that  he  should  have  studied  medicine  three  years,  two 
of  which  were  to  be  in  connexion  with  the  University ;  that 
he  should  undergo  a  private  examination  before  the  faculty ; 
and  that  he  should  hand  in  a  Thesis  to  be  defended  at  the 
public  commencement,  and  to  be  printed  at  his  own  expense. 
These  requirements  continued  to  be  demanded  till  1807,  when 
they  were  still  further  changed  for  those  now  in  force. 

"In  January  26th,  1768,  Dr.  Adam  Kuhn  having  made 
application  to  be  appointed  Professor  of  Botany  and  Materia 

(170) 


(Earlg  l^istorg  of  fliebinne  in  ^^ilal^elp^m. 

Medica  in  this  College,  declaring  that  he  would  do  the  utmost 
in  his  power  to  merit  that  honour,  and  the  Trustees,  having 
ample  assurance  of  his  abihties  to  fill  that  Professorship,  for 
which  he  is  likewise  particularly  recommended  by  the  Medical 
Trustees  and  Professors  belonging  to  the  College,  do  there- 
fore unanimously  choose  and  appoint  him,  the  said  Dr.  Adam 
Kuhn,  to  be  Professor  of  Botany  and  Materia  Medica  m  this 
College  agreeably  to  his  request." 

In  the  following  May,  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  who  was  already 
engaged  in  cluiical  teaching  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
was  elected  to  the  chair  of  Clinical  Medicine,  a  position  which 
was  held  by  him  until  his  death  in  1784,  after  which  it  was 
united  with  that  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine. 

The  commencement  of  the  College  was  held  in  June,  1768,* 
when  medical  honours  were  conferred  for  the  first  time  in 
America.     The  following  account  of  the  exercises  on  that 

*  This  was  three  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  College.  The  first  degrees 
conferred  by  King's  CoUege,  in  New  York,  were  in  1769,  one  year  after  the 
opening.  They  were  both  degrees  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine.  The  first  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  ever  conferred  in  this  country  was  an  honorary  one  in  1723, 
granted  by  Yale  College  to  Daniel  Turner,  of  London,  author  of  "The  Art  of 
Surgery,"  who  had  sent  out  to  that  institution  a  coUection  of  valuable  books  in 

physick  and  surgery. 

(171) 


S^e  (Butlyi  J^istorg  of  ^Mdm  in  pilatrelp^m. 

occasion,  wliich  I  copy  fi'om  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  will 
perhaps  not  be  unmteresting : — 

"College  of  Philadelphia,  June  21, 1768. 

"  This  day,  which  may  be  considered  as  haying  given  Birth 
to  Medical  Honours  in  America,  the  following  Gentlemen 
were  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Physick,  viz: 
Messieurs  John  Archer,  of  Newcastle  County;  Benjamin 
Cowell,  of  Bucks  County ;  Samuel  Duffield,  of  Philadelphia ; 
Jonathan  Elmer,  of  West  Jersey ;  Humphrey  FuUerton,  of 
Lancaster  County ;  David  Jackson,  of  Chester  County ;  John 
Lawi'ence,  of  East  Jersey ;  Jonathan  Potts,  of  Pottsgrove ; 
James  Tilton,  of  Kent  County ;  and  Nicholas  Way,  of  Wil- 
mington, 'New  Castle  County. 

"Agreeably  to  the  rules  of  the  College,  these  Gentlemen, 
previous  to  their  admission  to  a  Degree,  had  diligently 
attended  the  lectures  of  the  several  Professors  in  Anatomy, 
the  Materia  Medica,  Chemistry,  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Physick,  and  the  Clinical  lectures  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hos- 
pital ;  in  which  (as  well  as  in  the  Languages  and  the  neces- 
sary branches  of  Natural  Philosophy')  they  gave  the  most 
satisfactory  proofs  of  their  proficiency,  both  in  their  private 
and  publick  examinations. 

(172) 


"  The  Provost,  after  opening  the  commencement  with  pray- 
ers, introduced  the  business  of  the  day  with  a  short  Latin 
Oration.     Then  followed, 

"  1.  A  Latin  oration  dehyered  with  great  propriety  by  !Mr. 
Lawi'ence,  'De  Honoribus  qui  omni  CEyo  in  yeros  Medicinge 
Cultores  collati  fQerunt.' 

"2.  A  dispute  'Whether  the  Retina  or  Tunica  Choroides  be 
the  immediate  seat  of  yision  ?'  The  argument  for  the  Retina 
was  ingeniously  maintained  by  Mr.  Cowell.  The  opposite 
side  of  the  question  was  supported  with  great  acuteness  by 
Mr.  Fullerton,  who  contended  that  the  Retina  is  incapable  of 
the  of&ce  ascribed  to  it,  on  account  of  its  being  easily  perme- 
able by  the  rays  of  light,  and  that  the  choroid  coat,  by  its 
being  opake,  is  the  proper  part  for  stopping  the  rays,  and  re- 
ceiying  the  pictui'e  of  the  object. 

"3.  Questio  ']S'um  datur  Fluidum  ]Srei*yosum  ?'  This 
question  was  discussed  with  great  learning;  the  affirmative 
by  Mr.  Duffield,  and  the  negative  by  !Mr.  Way. 

"  4.  ^Ir.  Tnton  delivered  an  essay  '  On  Respiration,  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  performed,'  wliich  did  great  credit  to  his 
abihties. 

"5.   The  Degrees   were   conferred  by  the  Provost,   after 

(173) 


(garig  J^istes  of  i&Mcxnt  in  J5^ilat>elp%ia. 

receiving  the  mandate  of  the  Trustees  from  his  Honour  the 
Governor,  as  then-  President. 

"6.  An  elegant  valedictory  oration  was  spoken  by  Mr. 
Potts,  ^  On  the  advantages  derived  to  the  study  of  Physick, 
from  a  previous  liberal  education  in  the  other  sciences,  par- 
ticularly Mathematics  and  Katm^al  Philosophy.' 

"  7.  The  Provost  then  delivered  a  brief  account  of  the  pre- 
sent state  of  the  College,  and  its  quick  progress  in  the  various 
extensive  establishments  which  it  hath  already  made.  He 
pointed  out  the  more  general  causes  of  the  advancement  as 
well  as  decline  of  literature  in  different  nations  of  the  world ; 
and  observed  to  the  Graduates,  that  as  they  were  the  first  who 
had  received  Medical  Honours  in  America,  on  a  regular  colle- 
giate plan,  it  depended  greatly  on  their  future  conduct  and 
eminence  to  place  such  Honours  in  estimation  among  their 
countrymen;  concluding  with  a  pathetic  exhortation  never  to 
neglect  the  opportunities  which  their  practice  would  give 
them  (perhaps  above  all  other  men),  of  making  serious  im- 
pressions on  their  patients,  and  of  exerting  the  man  of  Piety 
and  consolation  (especially  at  the  awful  approach  of  death), 
which  could  not  fail  to  have  singular  weight  from  a  lay 
character.     He  added  that  what  might  further  concern  their 

(174) 


e  €ntl^  %ist0rs  of  I8(bidne  in  |9^il»belp^i». 

practice,  he  had  devolved  on  a  Gentleman  of  their  own  pro- 
fession, from  whom  it  would  come  with  greater  propriety  and 
advantage.  Upon  which  Dr.  Shippen,  Professor  of  Anatomy 
and  Surgery,  gave  the  remainder  of  the  charge ;  further  ani- 
mating to  graduates  to  support  the  dignity  of  their  profession, 
by  a  laudable  perseverance  in  their  studies,  and  by  a  practice 
becoming  the  character  of  gentlemen,  adding  many  useful 
precepts  respecting  their  conduct  towards  their  patients, 
charity  towards  the  poor,  humanity  to  all,  and  the  opportunity 
they  might  have  of  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  sick,  and 
the  esteem  of  every  one,  who  by  their  vigilance  and  skill 
should  be  restored  to  health.  ^  The  Yice-Provost  concluded 
with  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  and  the  whole  was  honoured 
with  the  presence  of  a  polite  and  learned  assembly,  who  by 
their  kind  approbation,  testified  the  satisfaction  which  the 
inhabitants  of  this  place  have  in  the  improvement  of  useful 
knowledge  in  their  native  country.' " 

The  Chair  of  Chemistry  was  added  in  1769,  and  filled  by 
the  selection  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.  By  this  appointment, 
the  different  professorships  originally  intended  in  the  medical 
school  were  filled  up. 

At  the  commencement,  held  on  the  28th  of  June,  1771,  the 

(175) 


t  (Karig  l^istot^  of  Mttidnt  in  P^llatrdp^ia;. 

first  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  conferred  upon  four 
of  the  gentlemen  who  had  graduated  as  Bachelors  m  1768, 
viz.,  Elmer,  Potts,  Tilton,  and  Way.  On  this  occasion.  Dr. 
Morgan  delivered  the  address,  in  which  he  entered  into  a  par- 
ticular account  of  the  branches  of  study  which  the  Medical 
Gentlemen  ought  to  prosecute  with  unremitted  diligence,  if 
they  wished  to  become  eminent  in  their  profession,  laying  down 
some  useful  rules  for  an  honourable  practice  in  the  discharge 
of  it.  He  observed  that,  "  The  oath  which  was  prescribed  by 
Hippocrates  to  his  disciples  has  been  generally  adopted  ui 
Universities  and  Schools  of  Physic  on  the  like  occasions,  but 
that  laying  aside  the  forms  of  oaths,  this  College,  which  is  of 
a  free  spu'it,  wished  only  to  bind  its  sons  and  graduates  by  the 
ties  of  honour  and  gratitude."  He  therefore  begged  leave  to 
impress  it  upon  those  who  had  received  the  distinguished 
degree  of  Doctor  "that  as  they  were  among  the  foremost 
sons  of  the  Institution,  and  the  bui:hday  of  Medical  honours 
in  this  new  world,  had  rose  upon  them  with  auspicious  lustre, 
they  would  in  all  their  practice,  consult  the  safety  of  their 
patients,  the  good  of  their  community,  and  the  dignity  of 
their  profession,  so  as  that  the  seminary  from  which  they 
derived  their  titles  in  Physic,  might  never  have  cause  to  be 
ashamed  of  them." 

(176) 


In  ^N^ovember,  1779,  the  College,  which  had  been  originally 
founded  and  endowed  by  private  liberality,  was  by  an  uncon- 
stitutional Act  of  our  Legislature  deprived  of  its  charter  and 
property,  which  were  transferred  to  a  new  institution,  called 
the  University  of  Peimsylvania.  This  institution  was  further 
enriched  by  bestowing  upon  it  other  property  confiscated 
durmg  the  Revolutionary  War.  By  this  Act,  the  medical 
professors,  as  well  as  the  other  officers  of  the  College,  lost 
their  places,  and  it  became  necessary  to  reorganize  the  medi- 
cal faculty.  In  accomplishing  this  object  there  was  much 
difficulty,  and  a  succession  of  appointments  and  resignations 
took  place  until  the  year  1783,  when  the  former  professors 
were  reinstated  in  the  chairs  which  they  had  previously  held. 

In  1789,  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  conceiving  the 
Act  of  1779  to  be  "  repugnant  to  justice,  a  violation  of  the 
constitution  of  this  commonwealth,  and  dangerous  in  its  pre- 
cedent to  all  incorporated  bodies,  and  to  the  rights  and  fran- 
chises thereof,"  passed  a  law  repealing  that  part  of  it  which 
affected  the  Academy  and  College,  and  thus  re-possessed  them 
of  all  their  former  estates  and  priviledges,  but  still  leaving 
the  University  in  existence  with  its  endowments  obtained 
from  the  confiscated  estates.     Thus,  two  institutions  were 

23  ( 177  ) 


e  (Bntl^  Histors  of  f^tbicim  in  jp^ikbelp^ia. 

established  under  the  titles  of  College  of  Philadelphia  and 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  each  having  the  priviledge  of 
connecting  with  it  a  Medical  school,  and  two  faculties  were 
soon  formed.  The  College  possessed  Shippen,  Rush,  Grif- 
fitts,  Wistar,  and  Barton,  while  the  University  was  sustained 
by  only  three  professors,  Shij)pen,  Kuhn,  and  Hutchinson. 
Dr.  Morgan,  the  Founder  and  first  Professor  in  the  school, 
died  before  the  two  faculties  were  appointed,  and  to  Dr. 
Shippen  the  chair  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  was  given  in  both 
institutions. 

The  unwise  policy  of  attempting  to  support  two  schools 
was  so  strikingly  apparent,  that  the  idea  of  uniting  them 
was  soon  thought  of,  conferences  took  place,  and  with  the 
approbation  of  both  parties,  application  was  made  to  the 
Legislature  to  consolidate  them  into  one,  to  be  known  as 
"  The  University  of  Pennsylvania,"  and  a  law  to  this  effect 
was  passed  in  September,  1791.  The  new  faculty  was  fully 
organized  on  the  23d  of  January,  1792,  as  follows : — 

1.  Anatomy,  Surgery,  and  Midwifery     .    Dr.  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  and 

Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  Adjunct. 

2.  Practice  of  Physic        ....    Dr.  Adam  Kuhk. 

3.  Institutes  and  Clinical  Medicine  .    Dr.  Benjamin  Kush. 

(178) 


e  €»rls  l^istorg  of  l^ebinne  in  |i^tlabelpl^ia. 

4.  Chemistry Dr.  James  Hutchinson. 

5.  Materia  Medica Dr.  Samuel  Powell  GRirriTTS. 

6.  Botany  and  Natural  History       .        .    Dr.  Benjamin  S.  Barton. 

Attendance  on  the  lectures  of  the  last-mentioned  professors 
was  not  essential  to  graduation. 

In  the  year  1793,  the  chair  of  Chemistiy  was  made  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Dr.  Hutchinson,  and  Dr.  James  Woodhouse 
succeeded  to  it. 

In  1796,  Dr.  Griffitts  resigned  the  chau'  of  Materia  Medica, 
and  Dr.  Barton  was  elected  to  it. 

In  1797,  Dr.  Kuhn  relinquished  his  Professorship,  after 
having  been  connected  with  the  school  for  nearly  thu'ty  years, 
and  Dr.  Rush  succeeded  to  his  duties,  though  he  was  not 
regularly  appointed  to  the  place  till  the  year  1805,  when  the 
two  Professorships  of  the  Institutes  and  Clinical  Medicine, 
and  of  Practice  were  consolidated  into  one. 

In  the  same  year  an  important  change  was  made  in  the 
school  by  the  separation  of  Surgery  from  Anatomy  and  Mid- 
wifery, and  raising  it  to  a  distinct  Professorship.  Dr.  Philip 
Syng  Physick  was  placed  in  this  chair,  and  soon  afterwards,  at 
his  request,  in  consequence  of  feeble  health.  Dr.  Dorsey  was 
appointed  his  adjunct. 

(179) 


^^t  €nvlyi  %isiifv^  of  MttfUint  in  )9]^il»belp^k. 

In  1810,  another  great  improvement  was  made  by  sepa- 
rating Midwifery  from  Anatomy,  and  giving  to  that  branch  a 
distinct  Professorship.  This  change  was  brought  about 
principally  by  Dr.  Wistar,  who,  in  the  month  of  January, 
1809,  soon  after  he  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  Dr.  Shippen, 
urged  (in  a  wi^tten  communication)  the  Trustees  of  the  Uni- 
versity to  have  Obstetrics  separately  taught  in  the  school. 
Early  in  the  following  year  a  resolution  to  that  effect  passed 
the  Board,  and  in  the  month  of  June,  Dr.  Thomas  C.  James 
was  elected  to  the  new  professorship,  the  first  in  the  country. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  the  year  1813  that  Midwifery  was 
placed  on  a  footing  with  the  other  branches  taught  in  the 
schools  and  attendance  on  its  lectures  rendered  essential  for 
the  obtaining  of  a  degree.  Since  that  period,  other  important 
changes  have  taken  place  in  the  organization  of  the  school — 
the  separation  of  the  Institutes  from  the  chair  of  Practice 
in  1835,  the  addition  of  a  Professorship  of  Clinical  Surgery 
in  1847,  and  the  prolongation  of  the  lecture  term. 

May  the  course  pursued  by  this  time-honoured  institution 
still  be,  as  it  has  been  from  her  foundation,  onwards  for 
improvement,  and  may  our  science  in  the  Institutions  which 
the  prophetic  eye  of   Morgan   saw   would    be   everywhere 

(180) 


springing  np  on  this  Continent,  ever  be  taught  with  a  zeal, 
fidelity,  and  dignity,  similar  to  that  displayed  by  her  distin- 
guished founder  and  early  professors  ! 

Scanty  as  is  the  information  which  I  have  been  enabled  to 
collect  in  regard  to  the  early  Medical  History  of  our  city,  it 
is  yet  sufficient  to  show  the  standing,  abilities,  and  learning 
of  those  who  practised  medicine  here  from  the  time  of  its  first 
settlement  down  to  the  period  of  the  Revolution.  Them- 
selves scholars,  they  were  the  fi-iends  of  litei'ature  and  science, 
distinguished  for  their  liberality  and  pubhc  spirit,  and  were 
foremost  among  those  who  contributed  to  the  foundation  of 
our  institutions  of  learning,  benevolence,  and  science.  Al- 
most forgotten  as  their  labours  now  are,  it  has  been  a  pleasing 
task  to  recall  their  vu-tues  and  activity.  Of  such  men  our  pro- 
fession must  feel  justly  proud.  "When  we  consider  that  it  was 
but  little  more  than  forty  years  before  the  institution  of  our 
medical  school  that  the  celebrated  one  of  Edmburg  was  first 
formed,  and  that  at  the  period  of  the  foundation  of  our  Hos- 
pital, but  five  similar  institutions  existed  m  the  metropolis  of 
Great  Britain,  in  one  of  which  the  instruction  of  pupils  was 
not  permitted  by  the  Governors,  while  in  another  of  them  but 
nine  at  a  tune  were  admitted,  and  that  Clinical  Medicine  was 

(181) 


not  cultivated  in  France,  until  a  short  period  prior  to  their 
Eevolution ;  it  will  be  evident  that  the  teachers  of  our  school 
and  hospital,  and  the  practitioners  who  encouraged  and 
supported  them,  were  not  only  awake  to  the  advance  and 
improvements  in  the  healmg  art,  but  also  quick  to  adopt 
the  good  practices  of  Europe.* 

'  *  lu  1725  there  were  but  three  hospitals  in  the  city  of  London  for  the  sick 
and  lame,  St.  Bartholomew's,  St.  Thomas's,  and  Guy's.  The  latter  was  founded 
only  in  1722.  St.  George's  was  founded  in  1733.  The  London  Hospital  in  1740 ; 
and  the  Middlesex  in  1750.  Until  1729,  when  the  Surgeons  and  Physicians 
opened  a  house  for  the  reception  of  poor  patients,  no  hospital  existed  in  Edin- 
burg,  and  the  Royal  Infirmary  there  was  not  founded  until  the  year  1736.* 

The  first  Clinical  Schools  were  established  in  Italy  about  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  ;  but  there  appears  to  have  been  no  clinical  teaching  of  much  note 
till  the  time  of  Boerhaave,  who  acquired  great  renown  by  it.  In  1753,  Van 
Swieten  opened  a  clinical  hospital  at  Vienna,  and  was  followed  by  De  Haen, 
StoU,  and  Hildenbrand.  Dr.  Rutherford  introduced  the  system  to  Edinburg,  and 
is  stated  to  have  been  the  first  who  gave  clinical  instruction  in  Great  Britain.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Cullen  and  others.  In  France,  it  was  not  till  the  year  1794 
that  there  was  any  clinical  organization,  when  Desault  and  Corvisart  were  made 
the  first  professors.  Dr.  Taylorf  states  that  clinical  lectures  were  not  delivered  in 
London  until  the  commencement  of  the  present  century.    After  their  introduction 

*  Spence,  Edin.  Med.  Journ.,  vol.  10,  page  489. 
t  Introductory  Lecture,  Lancet,  1841-2,  page  47. 
(182) 


(Karlg  J^tstors  of  ffllebidne  in  fpyiabelp^ia. 

May  their  names  ever  be  fondly  cherished  by  their  succes- 
sors, and  their  many  noble  qualities  and  respect  for  learning 
be  perpetuated  among  us  ! 

they  appear  to  have  been  discontinued,  for  Dr.  Billing  informs  us  "that  at  the 
time  he  adopted  the  practice  in  1822,  there  were  none  given  in  London." 

Otley,  in  his  life  of  Hunter,*  mentions  that  up  to  the  time  of  Dr.  "William 
Hunter  (1745),  lecturers  on  Anatomy  in  Great  Britain  "had  been  accustomed  to 
employ  but  one  subject  for  demonstrating  all  parts  of  the  body,  excepting  the 
bones  and  arteries,  which  were  described  on  preparations ;  and  the  nerves,  for 
exhibiting  which,  a  foetus  was  usually  employed.  Practical  dissection  was  un- 
known to  the  great  bulk  of  the  profession.  The  lecturers  of  that  time,"  says  he, 
"  treated  in  one  course  on  a  number  of  subjects  sufficient  to  furnish  matter  for 
three  or  four  distinct  courses,  according  to  our  present  system."  Mr.  Bromfield, 
a  teacher  of  considerable  note,  comprised  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  a  course  of 
thirty-six  lectures;  and  Dr.  Nicholls,  in  whose  school  Dr.  William  Hunter 
studied,  "  taught  Anatomy,  Physiology,  and  general  principles  of  Pathology  and 
Midwifery  in  thirty-nine." 


*  The  "Works  of  John  Hunter,  by  James  F.  Palmer,  London,  1835,  vol.  1,  pp. 
5  and  6. 


^f^t  iSnir. 


(183) 


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